Arsenal sent holders Milan packing from the Champions League on Tuesday as the English Premier League leaders booked a quarter-final place with a 2-0 win at the San Siro.

Goals from Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor guided Arsenal to victory in Milan, the first by an English side against the Rossoneri at the San Siro, giving manager Arsene Wenger high hopes of lifting the trophy in May.

“We are in the quarter-finals so why shouldn’t we believe we can do it? The competition is very hard but it is a cup competition so you have to take it like that,” Wenger told a news conference.

“We gave the performance we wanted. We played with organization. We never dropped off, we closed them down and never gave them time. Overall we played with authority, maturity and talent.”

Milan dominated the opening stages of a titanic tussle but Arsenal quickly found their feet and always looked more likely to score before Fabregas finally broke the deadlock with a stunning strike in the 84th minute. The midfielder took the ball in his stride and beat Zeljko Kalac in goal with a rasping low shot from 30 meters that crept into the bottom right corner before Adebayor sealed the win from close range in injury time.

The Togo striker was left with a simple tap-in at the far post to score his first Champions League goal of the season after substitute Theo Walcott delivered a perfect low cross.