Inter 1-0 Arsenal: Mikel Arteta’s side suffer second defeat in a row as the hosts survive second-half Gunners onslaught… with Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty proving the difference in Milan

Fog hung around Milan all week, prompting part of the Arsenal contingent to divert to Bergamo, leaving the team with the unsettling experience of not knowing they had approached the Malpensa airport runway until their wheels were broken.

It was a summary of where the club currently stands: struggling to find a way, a creative method or meaningful victories, and now being asked to do so without the sporting director who has been the architect of the new Arsenal.

The message emanating from the club could not have been clearer in recent days in Italy – continuity and not a crisis with Edu’s departure – but there were easier tests to test that belief than a feverish, bouncing reception in one of the melting pots of European football. All things considered, it was a brutal test, and too much.

Uniti, fieri, mai domi – ‘United, proud, never tamed’ proclaimed the banner spread across the famous Curva Nord and while those traveling in support of Mikel Arteta’s men would argue the same, the chants of ‘Arsenal ‘difficulty finding resonance’.

No one can say Arteta doesn’t live and breathe every minute. After making a half-time substitution for a team trailing and desperately on the mend, he became one of the few managers to be awarded a free-kick just after the hour mark, latching onto a ball that Inter’s Matteo Darmian tried to get it under control. on the sidelines. He was expecting a throw-in for his team, but the ball was still in play. He received a yellow card for the interference.

Inter’s hard-fought victory marks the Gunners’ second successive defeat in all competitions

Mikel Arteta’s side dropped to 13th place in the Champions League, out of a total of 36 teams

However, he was powerless as he watched his side try to make amends for a poor first half and saw the impenetrable blue-black line of Simone Inzaghi’s Nerazzurri get in the way.

The fog of uncertainty also shrouds Arsenal’s midfield, which is now struggling to offer anything more than pragmatism and determined defense in matches. That was why the ‘substitutes’ line on last night’s team sheet reading ‘8 Martin Odegaard’ seemed like a beacon of hope, after the 12-match absence of the club’s most creative player.

Declan Rice’s absence due to a foot injury even deprived Mikel Arteta of those pinged diagonals that have become such an outlet for him and left a unit that screamed no creativity in a ponderous first half. A brief pre-match reflection on the pitch for the victims of the Valencia floods had barely ended when the Italian champions were at Arsenal, giving them hell.

The match was two minutes old when Denzel Dumfries hit a right-foot shot that bounced off the crossbar, and the Dutch full-back continued to trouble Jurrien Timber, wide-attacking and looking for an early cross.

Under the din of the relentless Milan chant, Arteta’s men had to rely on some crucial interventions to avoid falling behind. Leandro Trossard returned from midfield to help deny Mehdi Taremi in the penalty area. William Saliba prevented Lautaro Martinez from spinning around him to build an escape.

The two colossal pillars of Arsenal’s defence, Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, without whom the team would have been so much poorer this season, together kept the team together through it all.

As so often, Inter’s defenders and midfielders switched positions. This meant that central midfielders like Hakan Calhanoglu dropped deep to start the build-up and giant full-back Yann Bisseck posed a real danger in the Arsenal penalty area.

A flexible Italian team was also very solid and well structured defensively. Every time Arsenal’s main supply line Gabriel Martinelli threw balls forward from the left, the defense were even with them.

It was handball horror for Mikel Merino (left), who was awarded a penalty just before half time

Hakan Calhanoglu coolly converted from the penalty spot to give Inter the lead at half-time

Gabriel came closest to scoring for the visitors, but his header went off the goal line

And when Arsenal seemed to have reached half-time intact, the penalty followed that gave them the lead. There could be no complaints. Merino’s hand was raised and not in a natural position when Taremi turned his foot around the ball that Calhanoglu brought in from the left. Calhanoglu then stepped up to roll the ball through the center of the goal as David Raya jumped to his left.

The 4-4-2 starting line-up, with Kai Havertz and Trossard up top, was a repeat of the formation that looked so tough against Newcastle last Saturday and looked no more dangerous. A shot on which Bukayo Saka failed to connect completely was the only thing Arsenal showed in the first half.

It was difficult to predict where Arsenal’s openings would come from. By half-time, Arteta had seen enough and brought on Mikel Merino for Gabriel Jesus, bringing Havertz – arguably the main goal threat – back into midfield.

Arsenal has improved their game. Gabriel met a sharp corner. Saka (left) arced from the right and Dumfries drove off the line. Havertz curled a beautiful shot towards the top corner of the net, only to see Yann Sommer clear it away. Yann Bisseck blocked to deny Havertz. Saka’s set pieces were a constant threat.

There were faint cheers from the Arsenal contingent as Ethan Nwaneri, certainly a creative gem, replaced Trossard ten minutes from time. Oleksandr Zinchenko also arrived to create a wide attacking threat. But the Milan chants started and there would be no equalizer to smooth things over for Arsenal ahead of Sunday’s trip to Stamford Bridge, which now looks all the more difficult.

When Arsenal won 5-1 here in November 2003 – the last time they played here – they had Robert Pires and Edu in midfield and Thierry Henry up front. The road ahead seemed clear then. No fog blocking the way.