Arsenal humbled 3-0 at home by rampant Inter
Arsenal's wretched home form in the Champions League came back to haunt them on Wednesday as they suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of Inter Milan in their opening Group B fixture.
Arsenal's wretched home form in the Champions League came back to haunt them on Wednesday as they suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of Inter Milan in their opening Group B fixture.
Two goals in the space of three minutes midway through the first half by Julio Cruz and Andy van der Meyde silenced the Highbury crowd, setting the tone for a miserable night for the Londoners.
Thierry Henry wasted a golden chance to put Arsenal back in touch when his 32nd-minute penalty was turned round the post by Francesco Toldo.
Things then went from bad to worse for Arsenal in the 41st minute when Obafemi Martins wriggled past a despairing Sol Campbell tackle and calmly shot past Jens Lehmann to reward the sharp-looking visitors for their first-half dominance.
Arsenal, whose failure to win any of their home second phase fixtures cost them a place in last season's quarter-finals, brought on former Inter players Dennis Bergkamp and Nwankwo Kanu for the closing stages but they could find no through a rugged visiting defence.
Arsenal next visit Lokomotiv Moscow while Inter, losing semi-finalists last season, are at home to Dynamo Kiev.