ARSENAL are through to the Europa League last eight despite losing 1-0 to Olympiacos in their Europa League last-16 second leg.
- RESULT: Arsenal 0-1 Olympiacos
- Arsenal XI: Leno, Bellerin, David Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney, Ceballos, Elneny, Xhaka, Pepe, Aubameyang, Smith Rowe
- Olympiacos XI: Sa, Holebas, Ba, Sokratis, Androutsos, M’Vila, Camara, Reabciuk, Masouras, El Arabi, Fortounis
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AND THAT’S ALL FROM THE EMIRATES
Arsenal made it through to the Europa League quarter-finals despite losing 1-0 to Olympiacos at the Emirates.
The Gunners qualified after beating the visitors 3-1 at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium last week.
The north Londoners put together a rather toothless performance throughout the encounter in which Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed three major chances to put the tie to bed.
The hosts maintained a clean sheet in the first half but were rocked by usual suspect Youssef El Arabi after 51 minutes.
El Arabi found his way into Arsenal’s box and fired a shot that deflected off Gabriel and ended at the back of Bernd Leno’s net.
Olympiacos never gave up throughout the game and pushed for a shock comeback, similar to the one last year.
But manager Pedro Martins lost Ousseynou Ba on 82 minutes to a second yellow card when he smashed the ball against the ground immediately after getting booked for a rough challenge on Gabriel Martinelli.
Arsenal are waiting to find out their next opponent in tomorrow’s draw.
That’s all from us, have a lovely night!
GETTY IMAGES MARTINS REACTS
Olympiacos manager Pedro Martins is pleased with his players’ display and insists they proved the Piraeus outfit should be regarded as one of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Martins said: “I think the second and third goals of the first match cost us the qualification.
“We put together a good game and picked up a fair win. As for the players’ perfromance, I am very pleased. We believed it, it [the elimination] leaves us with a bitter taste. If it wasn’t for those two goals then we would have gone through.
“Olympiacos are a big club. We are not afraid of our opponents. No matter where we play, our mentality remains the same. Arsenal are a great club and are targeting the Europa League.
“Olympiacos are a club that deserves everyone’s respect across Europe. Other than the results, we have earned the title as a big club in Europe.”
GETTY IMAGES ARTETA REACTS
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is pleased with his team going through to the Europa League quarter-finals but admitted the performance was below par.
Arteta said: “Really happy to be through we had a tough opponent we knew that.
“At the same time we have to be fair with ourselves and today we were nowhere near the levels that we have to set for ourselves.
“When we conceded the one nil to be fair after we got a lot better but we put ourselves in a difficult position because we gave them some belief which you cannot give to the opponents”
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WHO’S NEXT?
Arsenal are going to find out their next Europa League opponent in the quarter-finals on Friday.
So far, the Gunners know Granada as well as Roma are through and are waiting on the rest of the matches.
Manchester United take on AC Milan while Tottenham are still on extra-time with Dinamo Zagreb.
Young Boys, Rangers and Villarreal take on Ajax, Slavia Prague and Dynamo Kiev
GOING THROUGH
Arsenal breathe a sigh of relief after getting a cold shower for a parting gift by Olympiacos.
The two teams’ unlikely rivalry continues as in all of their 12 matches each one of them has picked up six victories in the process.
That was the Gunners’ first defeat in the Europa League this season after a nine-game unbeaten run.
Mikel Arteta’s men had picked up eight wins along the way…
STATS
Olympiacos dominated 54.1 per cent of possession throughout the encounter, which explains their sixth victory over Arsenal.
Tonight’s victory marked the Greek giants’ third victory in England, all of which have taken place against the Gunners.
The Piraeus outfit produced a total of eight shots, two of which were on target.
Arsenal got 12 shots, five of which were on target, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missing three major chances
GETTY IMAGES FT: ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
Arsenal made it through to the Europa League quarter-finals despite losing 1-0 to Olympiacos at the Emirates.
The Gunners qualified thanks to their 3-1 win in Greece last week and prevented the Greek giants from scoring two more goals that would have seen them going to the final eight.
Olympiacos opened the scoring with Youssef El Arabi when his shot deflected off Gabriel after 51 minutes.
The Piraeus outfit tried hard for a second but lost Ousseynou Ba on 83 minutes after he smashed the ball on the ground when he got booked with a yellow for a rough challenge on Gabriel Martinelli
GETTY IMAGES PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
AND THAT’S FULL-TIME AT THE EMIRATES!!!!!!
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
90+2 YELLOW CARD
Tierney gets booked for taking too much time to deliver the free-throw.
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
90 Three more minutes until full-time.
Arsenal are basically in the quarter-finals unless something insane happens.
But will they suffer their first loss in the Europa League this season in the process?
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
87 WHAT A CHANCE!
Arsenal get extremely close to an equaliser!
Martinelli gets a lovely through ball that Camara was left watching.
The striker finds Aubameyang who tries to trick Sa with a flick but the Olympiacos keeper saves it.
The Arsenal star then tries an overhead kick but it bounces off the crossbar
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
86 YELLOW CARD
Xhaka gets cautioned for a late challenge on Bouchalakis
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
85 Ba was initially shown the yellow card but then smashed the ball to the ground and that’s what led to a red card.
Bit harsh from the referee there, we’ve seen those kinds of reactions many times before…
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
84 SUBSTITUTION
Olympiacos make a late change with Martins sending Bouchalakis on for Fortounis and Lala takes Reabciuk’s place
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
83 Ba is completely heartbroken as he makes his way back to the dressing room.
The Olympiacos star appears to be crying inside the tunnel
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
82 RED CARD
Ba is sent off for a challenge on Martinelli…
It sems like the referee believes the Olympiacos star used too much force with the elbow to the face
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
81 SUBSTITUTITION
Arteta makes a couple of other changes as Martinelli takes Smith Rowe’s place.
Bellerin comes off and makes way for Chambers
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
81 WHAT A CHANCE!
Aubameyang gets in the counter-attack and finds himself in front of Sa.
But the Arsenal star’s flick goes well wide of the goal, should have done much better there!
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
80 Olympiacos give away another set-piece as Fortounis’ cross is clearer.
Luiz and Gabriel have had a rather easy night in terms of set-pieces
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
78 Time is running out for the visitors but they are still not giving up.
Arsenal just had a good attack with Pepe who got inside the box but Sa picked up the ball with ease
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
76 CHANCE!
Arsenal on the attack as Pepe finds his way inside the Olympiacos box but is dispossessed.
That leaves Odegaard with immense space at his disposal but he balloons it over the top
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
75 Olympiacos are still chasing but struggle to find space through Arsenal’s midfield.
Should expect Martins to play his final changes soon
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
72 YELLOW CARD
M’Vila gets cautioned after stepping on Pepe’s foot, referee is right there!
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
72 Arsenal survived a clumsy moment as Partey was dispossessed by El Arabi but the Olympiacos star hesitated to take the shot.
A lucky escape for the Gunners there
ARSENAL 0-1 OLYMPIACOS
72 El Arabi has been in phenomenal form thanks to his movement, power and determination.
The Olympiacos star is causing trouble at the back for Arsenal
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
