Poor Arsenal Fall At The Emirates

Dimitar Berbatov led French side AS Monaco to dismantle lackluster Arsenal 3-1 in the first leg of their last 16 Champions League tie at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

AS Monaco whom the odds had favoured to go down ahead of the clash because of Arsenal's recent enviable record at the Emirate gave Arsene Wenger and his team a real nightmare in front of their supporters as the premiership side failed to get out of first gear for 90 minutes.

French midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia gave the visitors the lead in the 38th minute when his 25-yard shot deflected German centre back, Per Mertesacker to beat David Ospina in post for Arsenal.

Former Tottenham, Manchester United and Fulham striker Berbatov smacked in the second before the break after he has been put through by the Portuguese, Joao Moutinho.

It took Arsenal 90 minutes to break through the resilient Monaco defence who had conceded only twice in their last 16 games. Substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gave his side a stoppage time hope when he curled in a masterpiece from outside the box.

But like a true 'Night to Forget' story, Chamberlain fluffed in the middle to give Yannick Carrasco the opportunity to slot in the third for the French side which leaves Arsenal in the cold.

In the end, AS Monaco who had only scored four goals in the entire group phase managed to put three goals in a single match and against Arsenal who had climbed into the top three of the Premiership table for the first time this season.

Bayern Leverkusen also defied the odds to book a win over last season's beaten finalist Atletico Madrid at the Bay Arena.