Arsenal romped home with a comfortable 4-2 victory over Valencia in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League semi-finals at Mestalla on Thursday night to set up an all-English final showdown with London rivals Chelsea at Baku on the 29th of June.
Having won the first leg at Emirates 3-1 last week, Unai Emery’s side already had one foot in the finals heading into the second leg away from home, while Valencia knew that a 2-0 victory at home would be enough to send them through to the finals on the virtue of away goals rule.
Valencia showed more intent in the opening stages of the game and started off as the brighter of the two teams. Goncalo Guedes blazed high and wide before the home side caught Arsenal out with a brisk counter-attack.
Rodrigo Moreno laid it on to the path of Kevin Gameiro, who stretched himself to beat Nacho Monreal and put the La Liga side in the driver’s seat just 11 minutes into the game.
The Spaniards reigned supreme in the first 15 minutes or so and registered half a dozen attempts on goal, although Pierre-Emerick Aubamenyang ensured that their dominance did not last long.
Aubameyang controlled Lacazette’s headed flick-on and unleashed a powerful strike from the outside of his boot to beat Neto between the sticks, making it 1-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate in favour of the Gunners.
Arsenal could have scored another before half-time had Lacazette managed to keep his shot on target after Aubameyang set him up with a mazy run through the Valencia’s defence.
Lacazette, however, made up for his missed chance early in the second half. Errors from Jose Gaya and Dani Parejo allowed Lucas Torreira to find Lacazette inside the box and the Frenchman outsmarted the centre-back with a jaw-dropping turn to slot the ball past Neto, putting the tie virtually beyond Valencia’s reach.
Lacazette brought up his third goal of the semi-final tie after having scored a brace in the 3-1 victory at home in the first leg.
Valencia once again reignited hopes of a remarkable comeback when Dani Parejo’s through ball eventually led to Kevin Gameiro’s second goal of the night. Ezequiel Garay fired wide from long-range shortly after and Carlos Soler did the same, while the Gunners put together some lovely attacking football of their own.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles has really come of age for Arsenal this season and the youngster once again ripped apart the Valencia defence with his dancing feet to set up Aubameyang with a lovely whipped cross from the right-hand side of the pitch.
And the former Dortmund man managed to complete his hat-trick in the 88th minute to cap off a dominant display from the Gunners. Henrikh Mkhitaryan claimed the assist with a slick through ball and Aubameyang just blasted the ball into the roof of the net to give Neto absolutely no chance of getting a fingertip to it.
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Arsenal would probably need to put 7 or 8 goals past Burnley in their final Premier League game on Sunday and that still won’t be enough for them to make it to the Champions League if Spurs only manage a draw against Everton at home.
However, the Gunners have a short-cut and hassle-free route of making it to the Champions League next season, which is to beat Chelsea in the finals at Baku.
Here’s how some of the joyous Arsenal fans reacted on Twitter
WE’RE ON OUR WAY
WE’RE ON OUR WAY
WE’RE GOING TO BAKU
WE’RE ON OUR WAY!!#AFC #VALARS pic.twitter.com/OYDudzZZft
— Gilles 🇳🇬🏴 (@GrimandiTweets_) May 9, 2019
This is a deadly finish by Aubameyang! What a player😍😍#VALARS pic.twitter.com/o4Qa2yXlrh
— Uche (@ubig1) May 9, 2019
Tuesday, Liverpool gave us resurrection night. Wednesday, Spurs gave their fans resurrection night. Thursday night, Arsenal is saying, Jesus Christ has risen from the dead no more resurrection bullshit#VALARS #EuropaLeague pic.twitter.com/q9z7OptCk2
— Michel_231 (@231_michel) May 9, 2019
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang & Alexandre Lacazette have now provided a combined 100 goal involvements for Arsenal in all competitions.
Aubameyang – 38 goals & 11 assists
Lacazette – 36 goals & 15 assists
What a partnership!#VALARS pic.twitter.com/sVHIK4Fjuj
— Harvey Downes (@HarveyDownes92) May 9, 2019
“We ShOuLd SeLl AuBaMeYaNg”
Shut up you wankers. He’s a gooner 🔴⚪️ #VALARS pic.twitter.com/sDCt6ddkur
— Jamie 🏴 (@Jay_J_Gunner) May 9, 2019
aubameyeng collecting the matchball like 😂 #VALARS pic.twitter.com/gC5IVXybs8
— jordon (@jordziinho) May 9, 2019
We are in the Final 🏆 #UEL #Arsenal @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/PrsptddLyU
— Karl (@Lagvilava7) May 9, 2019
In a week full of massive upsets, Arsenal have delivered the biggest shock of them all by not cocking this up! 😉#Arsenal
— Moh Haider (@ArsenalMoh8) May 9, 2019
For everyone who lived through the left, we deserve the right!#AFC #Arsenal #VALARS pic.twitter.com/vAA00ZmoTV— Alex Batt (@AlexBatt) May 9, 2019