Arsenal sparked a remarkable comeback in the second leg of the Round of 16 tie at the Emirates as the Gunners beat Rennes comprehensively by a 3-0 margin to progress to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa League.
Having lost the first leg in France 3-1, Arsenal were faced with a daunting task of overturning a two-goal deficit at home and the Gunners took off from where they had left in the 2-0 triumph over Man United in the Premier League.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who was one of the architects of Arsenal’s victory over United a few days back, came to the fore once again.
The right-wing back produced an inch-perfect cross from the flanks to pick out Aaron Ramsey who teed it up for Aubameyang, who in turn opened the scoring with a neat tap in from close range.
The Gunners were very much in the driver’s seat and didn’t allow the visitors too much space to exploit, retaining the ball very well and using their territorial domination to good effect in the final third.
Maitland-Niles was once again in the thick of things, making a wonderful run at the back post to head it in from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s cross after the Gabonese international showed a tremendous piece of awareness to keep the ball in play.
Arsenal managed to level the tie within 15 minutes and that was always going to be enough for the Gunners to progress to the next round given that they had a crucial away goal to their advantage.
However, Arsenal continued to stamp their authority and create chances in what proved to be a ruthless display from Unai Emery’s side.
Knowing that an away goal at the Emirates would put the tie on balance, Rennes pushed forward in numbers right from the start of the second half.
Hatem Ben Arfa and Ismaila Sarr got their act together and the visitors looked more threatening of the two sides in the attacking third. They could have got themselves a goal, only to be denied by the outside of the post.
The Europa League specialist as they call him, Emery showed his acumen and rang the substitutions to tilt the game in Arsenal’s favour once again.
Alex Iwobi fizzed his effort wide of the goal from Granit Xhaka’s pass but it was Aubameyang who delivered the coup de grace. Substitute Henrikh Mkhitaryan showed good vision and sharpness to find Sead Kolasinac on the left who laid it on a platter for Aubameyang with a delightful low cross.
To Read More Arsenal News, Click Here:- Latest Arsenal News
Arsenal’s progress into the next round meant that all the English teams that finished in the top-six in the Premier League last season have managed to get through to the last 8 of the Europa League and Champions League, with the likes of Man City, Man United, Spurs and Liverpool all keeping their European campaign alive.
Twitter Reactions
The day Ozil make wrong option on the ball…thats the day I will accept he has lost it.. . Unreal Ball player. ❤ #ARSREN— biodun yusuf (@bideyy) March 14, 2019