Pepe rescues Arsenal; United eke out win
PARIS: Nicolas Pepe came off the bench to rescue Arsenal at home against Vitoria Guimaraes with two late free kicks in the Europa League on Thursday. Arsenal came from behind to win 3-2 and stay perfect in Group F.
They are one of only two teams on nine points from three games, along with Sevilla, who beat Dudelange of Luxembourg 3-0 in Group A.
Manchester United are one of the teams on seven points and need just one more win to ensure they qualify from Group L after eking out a 1-0 win against Partizan in Belgrade.
Celtic came from a goal down to beat Lazio 2-1 in Glasgow and remain top of Group E. PSV Eindhoven were held 0-0 at home by Linz but still lead Group D
Rangers drew 1-1 in Porto in Group G while Wolves beat Slovan 2-1 in Bratislava in Group
K and both are in contention.
At the Emirates, Arsenal made 10 changes from the team that lost at Sheffield United on Monday in the Premier League. For much of the match, they looked even worse.
Arsenal dominated possession but were outshot 14-11.
They made the worst possible start, falling behind after nine minutes to a goal by a former Tottenham player.
In the ninth minute, Marcus
Edwards, once compared by Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino to a young Lionel Messi, fired a shot under Emiliano Martinez.
Brazilian teenager Gabriel Martinelli replied with a header but Vitoria regained the lead before half time with a goal from Bruno Duarte.
With Arsenal’s young strikers struggling, Pepe, who had not yet scored a goal from open play for the Gunners, came on in the 64th minute.
After 80 minutes he curled a free kick inside the far post. He repeated the trick three minutes into added time to secure the victory.
“It’s important for Pepe,” said Arsenal manager Unai Emery of his big summer signing. “He can gain confidence from tonight. When he scores it’s good for him and the team.”
In Belgrade, Manchester United held a ceremony t o remember the ‘Busby Babes’, and then won away for the first time since March
Anthony Martial scored the only goal with a penalty kick after 43 minutes, but the hosts had eight strikes on target to just three by United.