GUNNERS SHOCKED

Arteta’s boys sent crashing after late drama

AND then there was one.

Mikel Arteta was bullish ahead of this showdown, insisting his Arsenal side were hungry to land either the Europa League or a top-four place – their two routes back into the Champions League.

But this was a return to the old Arsenal, toothless and chaotic at times.

Olympiakos, by contrast, were excellent. Set up to frustrate and clinical with, appropriately enough, defender Pepe Abou Cisse heading the 54thminute opener.

Pierre-emerick Aubameyang looked to have underlined the reasons why Arsenal would be mad not to break the bank to extend his contract –which has 12 months left – when he lashed in an overhead kick with seven minutes left.

But visiting top-scorer Youssef El Arabi slid the ball in from close range (below) from sub Giorgos Masouras’ excellent cross to leave the Gunners shell-shocked.

They had struggled to find a way through during a tedious, disappointing first half. The writing had been on the wall a long way out.

Having finished the stronger in Greece, Arteta’s men had been expected to take advantage of the weaknesses they had found in the Olympiakos armoury. Instead, they started the game like a team enjoying their recent publicity and never really snapped out of it.

Pedro Martins’ visitors set up with five across the back, four in midfield, and a challenge to the Gunners to break them down.

Arsenal couldn’t. Bukayo Saka failed to find the space down the left he had revelled in last week.

Hector Bellerin was caught upfield all too often, and Mesut Ozil had yet another of those infuriating days on which he went missing.

When the visitors’ big chance came, nine minutes after the break, they buried it. Cisse slipped past Aubameyang, and powered a header in with David Luiz seemingly spellbound by the flight of the ball.

Anxiety gripped the Emirates and rightly so. This was a second leg Arteta’s side had been expected to win with the minimum of fuss.

Granit Xhaka shot weak and wide from outside the box on the hour. Pepe rammed in a left-footed effort from inside the box with 14 minutes left, but Jose Sa saved well before Ousseynou Ba reacted fastest to the rebound.

Lacazette blasted wildly over the bar from inside the box on 81 minutes.

Lucas Torreira forced another save from Sa shortly afterwards, this time from outside the box.

Arsenal were simply not finding a way through.