Arsenal impressively
swept aside Slavia Prague to reach the Europa League semi-finals with a fine
away victory in the second leg.
The night had
potential to be a nervy affair with the tie evenly poised at 1-1, but the
Gunners produced one of their best performances of the campaign to keep alive
their hopes of European qualification for next season.
They scored three
goals in the opening 24 minutes and had another ruled out by the video
assistant referee - all-but ending the contest in the opening period.
Nicolas Pepe squeezed
home at the near post to open the scoring in the 18th minute before Alexandre
Lacazette converted a penalty three minutes later following a foul on Bukayo
Saka.
Saka coolly swept in
the third as Arsenal tore their Czech opponents apart once more.
Mikel Arteta's side
controlled the game expertly thereafter and Lacazette smashed his second low
into the net in the latter stages.
The Gunners will face
Villarreal - managed by former Arsenal boss Unai Emery - in the last four.
Manchester United meet
Roma in the other semi-final after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side comfortably saw
off Granada.
Rampant Arsenal keep season going
This was Arsenal's
biggest game remaining this season - with a Europa League win in May their only
realistic way of securing Champions League football next season given their
league position.
Had they lost, their
campaign would have effectively been over. Instead they breathed life into its
final two months.
Their wastefulness in
the first leg left the tie in the balance but in Prague, where their hosts had
not lost for more than a year, they were supremely clinical.
Spurred on by the
guile and energy of Emile Smith Rowe, they scored three goals from five
first-half shots - doing so without their captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang,
who revealed shortly before kick-off he has contracted malaria.
Slavia had already
knocked Leicester and Rangers out of this year's competition but at half-time
they resorted to substituting four key players, seemingly an acceptance the tie
was over.
It is 25 years since
Arsenal failed to qualify for Europe and this win ensured they can extend that
run.
A meeting with Emery,
who took Arsenal to the Europa League final in 2019 and won the tournament
three times as manager of Sevilla, awaits on 29 April.
Arsenal's best performance of the season?
It is little surprise
that this performance came with Smith Rowe and Saka - the two shining lights of
Arsenal's inconsistent season - reunited in the attacking line.
Smith Rowe, a doubt
for the game with an ankle injury that kept him out of the weekend's win over
Sheffield United, had put Arsenal ahead in the 14th minute when he turned in
the rebound after Saka's rasping shot was turned on to the post but he was
narrowly judged to be offside.
It was the 20-year-old
playmaker, however, who showed delightful feet to tee up Pepe for the opener
moments later.
He then played in Saka
whose driving run was unfairly halted by the sliding Jakub Hromada, resulting
in the second goal from the penalty spot.
Saka took the
spotlight soon after, driving off his flank once more and finding the bottom
corner while Lacazette was clinical with his spot-kick and assured second-half
finish.
§ Why Saka could be a future Arsenal captain
Pepe, too, a player
often criticised during his time at Arsenal, impressed on the left. He now has
five goals and four assists in this year's competition.
It will also please
Arteta how Arsenal managed the game with a defensive solidity not seen at times
this season.
Lacazette loving the Europa League - the best
stats
§ Arsenal have reached the semi-finals of
European competition for the 10th time (including Fairs Cup), with the Gunners
getting to the last four in three of their four Europa League campaigns.
§ Slavia Prague suffered their first home defeat
in their last seven European games (W3 D3), conceding more goals in this game
(4) than in the previous six on home soil (3).
§ Arsenal have scored 3+ goals in four
consecutive away games in all competitions for the first time since December
1932 (5 games).
§ Arsenal kept a clean sheet in a European game
for the first time in eight games, since a 3-0 away win over Molde in the
Europa League in November 2020.
§ Nicolas Pepe has been directly involved in
nine goals in his 10 starts for Arsenal in the Europa League (4 goals, 5
assists).
§ Emile Smith Rowe registered his seventh assist
in all competitions this season, the joint-most of any Arsenal player in
2020-21 (level with Willian).
§ Only Radamel Falcao (20) and Kevin Gameiro
(19) have scored more Europa League knockout stage goals than Arsenal striker
Alexandre Lacazette (18).
§ Alexandre Lacazette has scored 2+ goals in
consecutive games in all competitions for the first time for any club since his
last three appearances for Lyon in May 2017.
§ With four goals to his name, Bukayo Saka is
now Arsenal's joint-top teenage scorer in major European competition, level
with Charlie George and Ray Kennedy.
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