WIN FOR ALL
Rampant Gunners crush Kudela’s mates
ARSENAL saved their season with a stunning victory over Slavia Prague last night as they sent Rangers’ Euro conquerors crashing out.
The Gunners thumped the Czechs – caught up in an ugly racism row following their last-16 win at Ibrox – with a dazzling away display.
Slavia slumped out just 24 hours after shamed star Ondrej Kudela copped a 10-game Euro ban from UEFA for his vile slur to Gers star Glen Kamara.
Mikel Arteta’s men KO’d the side who dumped his old team thanks to a flying start.
They had a goal chalked off and then scored three that counted in the first 24 minutes to all but kill the tie, after a tight 1-1 draw at the Emirates in last week’s first leg.
The win sets up a reunion with former boss Unai Emery and his Villarreal outfit in the Europa semi-finals as the chance of two all-English Euro finals stayed alive.
And the Gunners cruised through without star man and skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who revealed he contracted malaria on international duty in Gabon.
Aubameyang said: “I’ve spent a few days in hospital this week but I’m already feeling much better every day, thanks to the great doctors that detected and treated the virus so quickly.
“I wasn’t really feeling myself the last couple weeks but will be back stronger than ever soon!”
Aubameyang looked on from his sick bed as Nicolas Pepe, an Alexandre Lacazette penalty and Bukayo Saka had the Gunners cruising early on.
Stand-in skipper Lacazette then sealed the rout in the closing minutes as Slavia crashed to a rare home loss.
Gaffer Arteta said: “We had the disappointment of the goal being ruled out early on but we responded well.
“We looked a threat all night every time we went forward, we were really composed in the final third and scored some great goals.
“That’s also two clean sheets in a row which is good too. All the boys were really at it from the start and we showed some good quality.”