EMERY’S JUST NOT KIDDING

Auba adds Gunners punchline

PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG rubber-stamped Unai Emery’s decision to take the Europa League more seriously at Arsenal this year.

Arsene Wenger used to use these Thursday evenings to give the kids a run-out.

For his successor it was a chance to introduce nearly £50m of talent to his starting line-up for the first time. And his players did not let him down.

The road may be a long one, but winning this competition, as the Spaniard did with Sevilla three years in a row, may well be Arsenal’s best route back to the big time.

Attack

Because after a pulsating week of Champions League football, this pedestrian win against a hapless bunch of European minnows in front of a half-empty Emirates is definitely not the big time.

In the end, it was a rare sustained attack from Vorskla which led to the breakthrough.

Dmytro Kravchenko’s step-over did not seem quite so clever when Henrikh Mkhitaryan swooped onto the loose ball and charged 30 yards.

A simple pass out to Alex Iwobi kept the fray and took full advantage, poking in Stephan Lichtsteiner’s

74th-minute cross, to just leave time for the obligatory Arsenal howler.

It was Lichtsteiner who let the ball run through his legs to allow Volodymyr Chesnakov to slam the ball past debutant goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

Vyacheslav Sharpar was left free to grab another consolation with the last kick of the game.

It is just the sort of frailties that Emery may fear will keep Arsenal out of the Premier League top four.

Celtic left it late before sub Leigh Griffiths grabbed the winner against Norwegian outfit Rosenborg. Steven Gerrard’s Rangers recovered from conceding within 43 seconds to earn a

2-2 draw with Spanish side Villarreal. Leno; Lichtsteiner, Holding, Sokratis, Monreal; Elneny, Torreira (Guendouzi 57); Iwobi (Smith-Rowe 70), Mkhitaryan, Welbeck; Aubameyang (Ozil 57). Subs: Bellerin, Lacazette, Martinez, Nketiah.

Shust; Perduta, Dallku, Chesnakov, Artur; Sharpar, Kravchenko (Sklyar

70); Kobakhidze (Sergiychuk 78), Kulach (Mores da Cruz 75), Rebenok; Kolomoets.

Subs: Giorgadze, Mysyk, Tkachenko, Sakiv.

Bart Vertenten (Belgium).