Arsenal's best chance of breaking their near eight-year trophy drought went up in smoke, after another disappointing performance saw them crash out of the F.A. Cup with a 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
Arsenal had the ball for pretty much the entire 90 minutes, but could barely muster up more than a couple of clearcut chances as Arsene Wenger faces yet another inquest into his side's inability to cope under pressure.
The fact that the fifth round tie was lost in their own backyard at The Emirates to a Championship side, albeit with a lot of English Premier League experience, will just make matters worse as the wolves circle around the team that has flattered to deceive for the past eight seasons.
The Gunners began will all the possession, as Wenger expectedly decided to give his big guns a rest, with the likes of Tomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby, Francis Coquelin - at right-back -- and Gervinho getting a start.
The team put out though should have still been more than enough to get past Blackburn and book a quarterfinal place, but as has been Arsenal's case for so long now, a lack of cutting edge when required and a slice of luck for the opponents sent them out of the tournament.
Abou Diaby had the first real chance for the Gunners well after 20 minutes had gone in the game, rising high to head off a corner -- which Arsenal received in plenty - which Jake Keane parried away with his left hand.
Thomas Vermaelen then forced another save off the Blackburn goalkeeper off yet another corner, before the chance which might have turned the game on its head went abegging.
Rosicky played a sweet perfectly weighted ball through to Gervinho, who, with only the goalkeeper to beat, fired wide with just a couple of minutes remaining in the half.
The second half, Arsenal upped the tempo a little bit more, but the chances were again few and far between, with the Blackburn rearguard fairly comfortable - it was in a manner similar to the game against Bradford, where Arsenal could just not find the right ingredients to score that goal.
Rosicky, who was one of Arsenal's better players, with the likes of Diaby, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gervinho disappointing, crashed a wonderful 20-yard strike onto the top of the crossbar with the goalkeeper well beaten as evidence of this just not being Arsenal's day piled on.
Wenger brought on Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla in the final 20 minutes, but it was Blackburn that scored in the 72nd minute with basically their only chance of the match.
Martin Olsson struck a left-footed shot which goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny could only parry towards the path of Colin Kazim-Richards, whose scuffed shot took a bounce off the pitch, crashed into the inside of the post and went in - as the Gods of Luck almost laughed at Arsenal's misery.
There were no real chances after that for the Gunners, with Walcott coming close off a header and Arteta smashing a strike onto the side-netting as the home side's season unravelled yet again.
Bayern Munich will now be licking their lips as they prepare to possibly land another deadly blow in a season of missed opportunities for Arsenal.
Results: Luton 0-3 Millwall; MK Dons 1-3 Barnsley; Arsenal 0-1 Blackburn
