Arsenal, for a change, performed with a trace of discipline. They played with poise. For once, Arsene Wenger’s team refused to be lured into the high-speed pursuit of glory. They went about it all in a sensible manner. That has not always been the case. Perhaps lessons had been learned from the Charge of the Lightweight Brigade three weeks earlier. Fifteen consecutive years of Champions League knockout football and still learning important lessons. Talk about slow on the uptake. Such qualities should be ingrained in the club’s fabric by this point. Arsene Wenger looks on as his side win in Monaco - but it was not quite enough to progress to the last eight . Olivier Giroud gave the Gunners hope, finishing with aplomb to increase the nerves among the home side . Aaron Ramsey stepped off the bench to latch on to a loose ball in the box to level the tie on aggregate . After the debacle at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg, they learned not to repeat their mistakes but it did them no good. Wenger’s team kept a clean sheet and scored twice against a defence which had conceded only once in its previous 12 home games, but it was meaningless. Instead, here was another spectacular near-miss to file away in the collection. There was Robin van Persie’s red card and Nicklas Bendtner’s late chance in Barcelona and that 2-0 win in Munich against Bayern, a carbon copy of this tie, two years ago. There were the Lionel Messi four goals in 2010 when Pep Guardiola’s Barca were at their peak, the penalty conceded by Kolo Toure at Liverpool and a near-miss against AC Milan, when Wenger raged at the referee, having lost by four in the San Siro. Again, there were what-ifs. What if Alexis Sanchez had been awarded a penalty instead of booked for diving? What if Danny Welbeck’s shot had not hit Aymen Abdennour and deflected wide before half-time? What if Danijel Subasic had not clawed that one out of the top corner in the dying minutes? What if Arsenal learned how to cope with two-legged knockout ties against quality opposition? For a team who aspire to win major trophies, they have failed to make it past this stage for five successive years. They have not won a first knockout round tie since beating Porto in 2010. In this sense they have slipped backwards and next season they are likely to lose their privileged status as top seeds. They are not alone. In this last-16 round, it is France 2 England 0. Laurent Koscielny clatted the bar from close range in the first half as Arsenal showed their intent . The Edge, Larry Mullen Jnr and Bono were among the attendees at the Stade Louis II . Sure Monaco wobbled, seemingly petrified by the proximity to such a huge result, but they did just enough to dispel the myth that it takes time to adjust to this competition. The French club are in it for the first time in nine years, having lost key players last summer, and still Leonardo Jardim has forged an effective unit from a few old-timers and some promising youngsters. They seized on Arsenal’s frailties in London and clung to their lead. Little wonder they erupted in triumph at the final whistle. History would not be rewritten. In the Champions League era, no team has recovered from losing at home in the first leg by two or more goals. There would be no Miracle in Monaco, under the terracotta tiles of Stade Louis II, where Irish rock band U2 came to watch on St Patrick’s Day, and might have played Arsenal out with a chorus of Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. Wenger’s selection was typically bold — four at the back, shielded by Francis Coquelin, who was later discarded for Aaron Ramsey. There was no shortage of attacking options, but it would take a night of clinical finishing to get out of this corner. An early goal might have exerted more pressure on a team in unfamiliar territory and made them anxious, but 35 minutes had elapsed when Olivier Giroud struck. To score before the interval was important. Arsenal at last had exposed Monaco’s nerve ends and the Monegasques shifted uneasily. Giroud perhaps epitomises the Arsenal riddle better than anyone. His goals have fuelled an upturn in form since the turn of the year. VIDEO Arsenal paid price for first leg - Wenger . Alexis Sanchez reacts after missing a chance on an ultimately frustrating night for the visitors . The Monaco bench erupts after the full-time whistle after the elimination of Wenger's side . He showed mental strength to overcome the disappointment of missed sitters in the first leg but chances went astray again: a header nodded wide early in the game and another into the goalkeeper’s hands. By the end, he was getting in a muddle with Sanchez as the impossible briefly promised to materialise. Mesut Ozil went close, but not close enough, and the German did not manage to provide an image to eclipse the one of him swapping shirts with Geoffrey Kondogbia on his way off the pitch at half-time. Half-time shirt swaps do not go down well, especially during a defeat. Just ask Andre Santos. Theo Walcott shook the woodwork and substitute Ramsey levelled the tie at 3-3 but this was the stage they reached two years ago, against Bayern Munich. Still more was required. Time ran out on Arsenal. Time runs out on Wenger’s dream of ever winning the Champions League.
For a change, Arsenal performed with a trace of discipline. They played with poise . For once, Arsene Wenger’s team refused to be lured into the high-speed pursuit of glory . Wenger’s players proved they have more maturity than in evidence during the pathetic first-leg . Olivier Giroud, too, proved that night of missed opportunities was something of an aberration amid a hot streak of form .