Arsenal gun down Olympiacos in Piraeus

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - ROUND OF 32 (LEG 1)

Arsenal claimed first blood in their Europa League Round of 32 tie on Thursday as their first leg clash at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus ended in a 1-0 win for the Gunners.

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Arsenal claimed first blood in their Europa League Round of 32 tie on Thursday as their first leg clash at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus ended in a 1-0 win for the Gunners.

Alexandre Lacazette scored the only goal of the game, tapping home from close range nine minutes from full-time as Mikel Arteta’s the Gunners escaped from Athens with a victory which puts them in the driving seat in the tie.

It could actually have been more for Arsenal as the visitors as Lacazette missed another late chance, while Sokratis Papastathopoulos also headed against the crossbar.

Olympiacos had made all the running and created several good chances in the first half, but Pedro Martins’ team failed to capitalise on that early dominance and faded badly after the half-time interval.

The result means that the tie remains delicately balanced ahead of next week’s return leg at the Emirates Stadium in London.

THE MATCH

This was the ninth time that the two teams were meeting in just over a decade, and both teams came into this match with high hopes of picking up a positive result - one they can take to the return leg in London next week. Arsenal ran out 3-0 winners in Piraeus four years ago in the last meeting of the two teams, but before that Olympiacos had won all three previous games in Greece. 

An entertaining match was anticipated, since the Thrylos came into this match in top form, leading the title race in the Greek Super League 1 as they try to regain the league title for the first time in three years. For their part, Arsenal prepared for this match by putting Newcastle to the sword 4-0 at the Emirates last Sunday.

Olympiacos made an electric start and could have been at least 1-0 up inside the first four minutes after both Mathieu Valbuena and Giorgos Masouras squandered excellent early chances.

First Valbuena peeled away at the back post and met a cross from Omar with a measured left-footed volley which was parried away by Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno at full stretch. The German keeper was then thankful just a couple of minutes later when Masouras somehow headed over the crossbar from point-blank range when it looked harder to miss.

Those early moments had the home fans buzzing but after weathering the first 20-minute storm, Arsenal began to get more of the ball and looked for the runs of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang down the right channel and Gabriel Martinelli down the left.

The Gunners had their best chance to break the deadlock in the 21st minute when Martinelli broke into the box and squared the ball back for Alexandre Lacazette, but the French forward side-footed narrowly wide from just a few yards out.

The visitors then had a decent chance from a free-kick in a dangerous position on the edge of the box on 28 minutes, but Granit Xaka’s deflected free-kick flew straight into Jose Sa’s midriff and the Portguese ‘keeper gathered it easily.

The rest of the half ebbed and flowed nicely, with both teams looking to attack, but the chances dried up in the latter stages and the teams went down the tunnel at half-time level at 0-0.

The tempo of the game slowed considerably in the second half, and Martins introduced Kostas Fortounis from the bench to replace Andreas Bouchalakis in an attempt to galvanize his team.

Chances were at a premium however for both sides, and when they did get forward, nor Olympiacos or Arsenal could find that killer final ball, while their efforts from distance were poor. 

Just when it seemed that the match would be heading for a 0-0 draw, however, Arsenal put together a click passing move to break the stalemate. It started with a sweeping long ball from deep by Xaka, who picked out Aubameyang.

The Arsenal captain then played in the on-rushing Buyako Saka who squared the ball perfectly across goal for Lacazette to tap home gleefully from close range to make it 1-0 and silence the Karaiskaki crowd.

On 84 minutes it should have been 2-0 when Lacazette was presented with a great chance just inside the penalty area, but his shot was brilliantly saved by Jose Sa’s diving save.

A minute later Arsenal were attacking again and Sokratis Papastathopoulos saw a header from a corner thwarted by the crossbar in what was becoming one-way traffic.

STARTING LINEUPS

Olympiacos: 1 José Sá (GK); 14 Elabdellaoui, 3 Semedo, 24 Ba, 21 Tsimikas; 8 Guilherme, 5 Bouchalakis, 4 Camara; 28 Valbuena, 19 Masouras; 11 El Arabi

Arsenal: 1 Leno; 5 Sokratis, David Luiz, Mustafi, Saka; Xhaka, Guendouzi; Aubameyang, Willock,Martinelli; Lacazette

By: Graham Wood

Image source: sport-fm.gr

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