Brazilian defender Alex turned from zero to hero to send PSV Eindhoven through to the UEFA Champions League last eight following a 1-1 draw at Emirates Stadium. PSV caused a major upset by eliminating last year's runners-up Arsenal from the competition with a 2-1 aggregate win. Alex was the center of events as his magnificent second half header cancelled out his first half own goal which gave the Gunners a life line. Arsene Wenger was forced to relegate his talismanic striker Thierry Henry to the bench as he was recovering from a foot injury and Arsenal's frontline also missed Dutch wizard Robin Van Persie who is out with another foot problem. The Gunners pilled on the pressure from the start as expected with the first chance coming from Kolo Toure after eight minutes when the Ivorian burst from the right-flank but his tight effort missed the PSV target. Julio Baptista started with the pressure of deputizing Henry and the Brazilian came close with a couple of efforts that went wide of Gomes' goal.
Arsenal European hopes demolished PSV were frustrated to see their Ivorian striker Arouna Kone injured and taken off five minutes before the interval to be replaced by Ibrahim Afellay. A goalless first half left Arsenal fans roaring for Wenger to bring on Henry to save the day, but the breakthrough came from an unexpected source. Denilson's 58th minute corner was misjudged by PSV keeper Gomes who caught Emmanuel Adebayor's head instead of the ball as well as blocking the view of his teammate Alex who was surprised to find the ball hitting his foot and into his own net. The joy was even doubled ten minutes later when Henry finally entered the field to replace Baptista eight minutes past the hour mark. The French ace did not make the expected impact though as he seemed in discomfort with a groin injury, and suddenly the table turned on the home fans just eight minutes before the final whistle. First- leg hero Edison Mendez swung a free-kick from the left and Alex rose superbly over Arsenal's defense and Jens Lehmann to head the ball into Gunners' net, silencing the hapless home crowd. Arsenal's defeat completed their miserable recent run after suffering their third cup exit of the season in the space of ten days to end the Gunners' hope of collecting any piece of silverware this season.