GUNS SLIP ON GRIEZ Atletico ace punishes Arsenal for sloppy defending after Lacazette opener
THE fairytale ended in heartbreak and maybe the triumphant farewell is just not meant to be.
Arsene Wenger will know that Arsenal will never have a better chance of beating Atletico Madrid and yet it ended in despair.
Antoine Griezmann’s 82nd-minute equaliser, pouncing on some typically slack Gunners defending, gave Atletico a precious away goal they barely deserved. It leaves boss Wenger needing a miracle to reach the Europa League Final, his hopes of a glorious goodbye in tatters after a night of high drama.
Atletico were falling apart as Diego Simeone was sent to the stands as he completely lost his head after Sime Vrsaljko’s 10th-minute red card.
The stay-away fans were back to fill every seat in the Emirates, it felt like the good old days were back and when Alexandre Lacazette headed in after 61 minutes the roof came off the place. But, cruelly, in one of their rare attacks, Atletico ruined the story for Wenger and will now be favourites to go through after next week’s second leg.
The red-hot atmosphere inside the ground felt like a Champions League night – and the drama was every bit as good.
Within 13 minutes, Atletico were down to 10 men, Simeone was sent to the stands and they were lucky not to be behind as Arsenal made a lightning start.
Croatia defender Vrsaljko was booked after just 75 seconds for a reckless foul on Jack Wilshere and then got his second yellow after 10 minutes for a crude challenge on Lacazette.
Amid the mayhem and uproar, Simeone completely lost his head and was screaming and swearing at French referee Clement Turpin, who then ordered him away from the touchline.
Atletico were going crazy and the Gunners were storming forward, and suddenly it seemed as if Wenger might get his dream send off with the visitors in utter disarray.
Striker Lacazette should have scored but crashed a shot against a post and had a header saved by Atletico keeper Jan
Oblak as the Spaniards found themselves under siege. Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck had another glorious chance, but his close-range effort was brilliantly blocked by Oblak.
The Gunners pushed Atletico further and further back into retreat, but not only was Oblak equal to everything but their centre-halves, Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin, were outstanding.
Between them, Gimenez and Godin headed, cleared and blocked every ball sent into the box as if their lives depended on it as they delivered a lesson in defending at the highest level.
You really felt as if Arsenal were beginning to lose heart, even the stadium went quiet as there seemed to be no way through.
But it was then that Arsenal really dug deep and produced the breakthrough.
It was Griezmann who tried to play out from the back, got caught in possession and Wilshere broke down the left of the penalty box before putting over a deep cross. Lacazette rose at the back post and headed powerfully down into the bottom corner to score.
But just when you thought it was all over, Atletico produced a goal out of nothing to break Arsenal hearts. Nacho Monreal played Griezmann onside, the centre-halves did no better.
Griezmann raced on to Gimenez’s long ball over the top, beat Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi lost his footing just as he was about to tackle – leaving the forward to flick a shot into the net.