Arsenal rue late equaliser while United win in Europa League
Arsenal conceded in injury time to draw 1-all with Slavia Prague in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final yesterday, while Manchester United won 2-0 in Granada.
Bruno Fernandes’ last-minute penalty put United in a commanding position to reach the semifinals after Marcus Rashford had given the visitors the lead in Spain.
Arsenal paid the price for a lack of concentration after failing to defend Nicolas Pe´pe´‘s 86th-minute opener.
Goalkeeper Bernd Leno made a fine save to deny Luka´sˇ Provod in injury time, but couldn’t stop Toma´sˇ Holesˇ from grabbing Prague’s equaliser from the resultant corner.
Roma also came from behind to win 2-1 at Ajax, and Villarreal won 1-0 at Dinamo Zagreb thanks to Gerard Moreno’s penalty before the break.
Arsenal frustrated
Arsenal had worked hard for Pe´pe´‘s opener. Brazilian winger Willian struck the post with a free kick early in the second half, and Alexandre Lacazette should have scored later when he only had the goalkeeper to beat. The French striker opted to lift the ball only to see it crash back off the crossbar.
The visitors missed chances of their own before Pe´pe´ finally broke the deadlock with a chip over the outrushing Ondrej Kola´r in the Slavia goal.
Holesˇ headed in Prague’s equaliser in injury time.
United in control
United emerged with commanding advantage despite a tough game in Andalusia.
Rashford scored with a cool finish in the 31st. The buildup was simple. United goalkeeper David de Gea passed to defender Victor Lindelo¨f, who sent a long ball over the home side’s defence for Rashford to latch on to with a brilliant first touch before he fired past Silva. It was the England striker’s 20th goal of the season.
Granada responded before the break with Yangel Herrera striking the post, Roberto Soldado going close and then Kenedy testing De Gea after a corner. The home side maintained its pressure after the interval, when again Kenedy forced De Gea into action.
Harry Maguire became the third United player to be ruled out of the second leg through suspension when he was booked for a foul on Soldado in the 72nd. Luke Shaw and Scott Mctominay were booked earlier, as was Granada defender Domingos Duarte, who will also miss next week’s game.
Yan Brice was booked after conceding the penalty on Fernandes, who’d had a quiet game. Rui Silva almost saved the spot kick but Fernandes’s effort squirmed through.
Roma come back
Ajax, like Arsenal, were to rue a missed opportunity.
Davy Klaassen capitalised on hesitant defending to score the home team’s opener in the 39th. The Dutch midfielder cut out Amadou Diawara’s weak back pass and exchanged passes with Dusˇan Tadic before scoring as Roma defenders Roger Iban˜ez and Gianluca Mancini backed off.
Tadic should have made it 2-0 early in the second half, but Roma goalkeeper Pau Lo´pez saved his penalty.
Lorenzo Pellegrini then equalised with a free kick that young goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen fumbled over the line in the 57th, and Iban˜ez atoned for his lacklustre defensive display with the winner in the 87th. Iban˜ ez took an attempted clearance from a corner on his chest before firing a volley in under the crossbar.
The second legs are next Friday.