Europa League: Arsenal reach last eight despite defeat by Olympiakos | Football News – Times of India

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LONDON: Arsenal endured a nervous night as they lost 1-0 to Greek side Olympiakos on Thursday but progressed into the Europa League quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.
After a 3-1 victory in Athens last week and reaching halftime unscathed in the return, Arsenal looked comfortable.
But when Youssef El Arabi’s deflected shot left Bernd Leno wrong-footed early in the second half it gave the visitors hope and increased the tension among the home ranks.
Arsenal wasted several late chances to ease the jitters with captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, restored to the starting line-up being left out of Sunday’s north London derby for disciplinary reasons, guilty of a poor miss.
Olympiakos had Ousseynou Ba sent off late on and Arsenal were spared any late dramas as they avenged last season’s elimination by the Greek champions to take their place in Friday’s last-eight draw.

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Europa League: Martin Odegaard strikes as Arsenal earn 3-1 win at Olympiakos | Football News – Times of India

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PIRAEUS: Martin Odegaard scored his first goal for Arsenal and Gabriel and Mohamed Elneny were also on target to give the English side a 3-1 win at Olympiakos in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie on Thursday.
Odegaard, who joined Arsenal on loan from Real Madrid in January, fired the visitors ahead with a 34th-minute strike from 25 metres before Youssef El Arabi equalised for the Greek team in the 58th minute.
Arsenal looked rattled after conceding a soft goal but Brazilian defender Gabriel restored their lead with a looping header and substitute Elneny sealed the win with a long-range shot.

Arsenal dominated the opening half and missed several chances, with Odegaard dragging a shot wide from a good position before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the crossbar with a deflected header.
Norway midfielder Odegaard struck out of the blue when he picked up the ball on the right flank and unleashed a thunderbolt through the hands of goalkeeper Jose Sa who should have done better.

El Arabi took advantage of sloppy defending as Hector Bellerin gave the ball away and with goalkeeper Bernd Leno stranded, the Moroccan striker scored with a clinical finish.

Bellerin made amends with a last-gasp intervention which denied El Arabi a second goal and it turned out to be a pivotal moment as Arsenal finished strongly.
Gabriel put the visitors back in front when he rose superbly to meet Willian’s cross from the right in the 79th minute before Elneny put the icing on the cake with a swerving drive five minutes from time.



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