Gunners just hang on to see off Greek revival
ARSENAL gained revenge on the side who knocked them out of this competition last season — but only after a major scare. This was a far more tense evening than it needed to be, with captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missing a series of chances on his return to the team after Mikel Arteta dropped him for poor time-keeping last weekend. The Greeks ended the match with ten men but Arsenal were grateful for the cushion racked up in the first leg. They will have to be significantly better than this to go any further in the tournament.
Boss Arteta said: ‘I’m really happy but we were nowhere near the levels we have to set ourselves. We made it really difficult. Hopefully we can learn some lessons. ‘We have beaten two good teams, Olympiakos and Benfica, but the next one will be tougher.’ The two sides traded great chances early on. One long punt from Jose Sa cleared Arsenal’s defence and put Youssef El Arabi through on goal. But Bernd Leno held his nerve in the one-on-one and deflected the ball over. Aubameyang, who missed a last-gasp chance to send Arsenal through last season, fired his first attempt to make amends over the bar. ‘I hope the weekend isn’t still on his mind,’ said Arteta. ‘We moved on, he started, and we expect when he does play he performs at the level he can.’ Kostas Fortounis and Jose Holebas went close for the
Greeks in the second half before they got the goal that gave them further belief. Dani Ceballos was dispossessed by Yann M’Vila, sparking a counter that ended with El Arabi beating Leno with a deflected effort. Game on? While Arsenal continued to miss chances through Pepe, twice, Martin Odegaard and Aubameyang, Olympiakos still had hope. But that went with defender Ousseynou Ba, whose night ended with him crying in the tunnel, after he was sent off after picking up two yellows in quick succession.