ARTETA’S AGONY
LATE LEVELLER FROM SLAVIA STUNS ARSENAL TO LEAVE TIE ON EDGE
THE good news is Arsenal will head to the Czech capital next week with their Europa League hopes very much alive.
Nicolas Pepe came off the bench and gave Arsenal the lead after 86 minutes, but Tomas Holes headed a late, late equaliser to put the tie in the balance.
The not so good, is they will have to do something few have managed to reach the semi-finals and keep their season alive.
Nobody has managed to beat Slavia Prague at their Sinobo Stadium home in all competitions all season and only four sides — including Rangers — have managed to hold them to draws, with just two being the type of score draw that would be enough to see Arsenal into the next round in 90 minutes after this first-leg stalemate.
There could be a long and nervous night ahead for Mikel Arteta and his men. Of course, it would not be Arsenal, if it was straightforward.
Without benched skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for most of the night, they produced a response of sorts to the big slap in the face, as Arteta called it, that they received against Liverpool.
Though it was not quite the type of retaliation that was good enough to earn them a lead to take into next week’s second leg.
‘We need to win the second leg,’ said Arteta. ‘The mindset is to win. We controlled the game well. The final result leaves a difficult taste.
‘They are a difficult opponent and they have beaten some big teams. Our high press was good and we created plenty of chances but we didn’t take enough of them.’
Despite the size of the game, with the Europa League growing in importance to Arsenal with every passing week, Arteta made the call to leave out his captain.
It would have been a major decision at the best of times, but felt especially so last night with Arsenal already missing key figures elsewhere through the injury absences of David Luiz, Kieran Tierney and Martin Odegaard.
The return of young guns Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, the duo who have been a breath of fresh air for Arsenal this season, belying their years on occasions, was timely.
Just like Arsenal, the runaway Czech league leaders, and conquerors of Leicester and Steven Gerrard’s side in the previous two rounds, were depleted too.
Jindrich Trpisovsky was without four defenders including Ondrej Kudela — suspended following race allegations against him by Rangers’ former Arsenal youngster Glen Kamara — and down to his last recognised central defender in David Zima.
Goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar was given the all-clear to play, wearing a Petr Cech-style head guard and protective mask after taking a boot to the face from Rangers’ Kemar Roofe in the last round.
Slavia Prague are impressively unbeaten 25 games into their domestic league and they played with a confidence.
Holes, usually a defensive midfielder but deployed as an emergency centre-back, looked a natural when he came from
nowhere to whip the ball off Saka’s toes just in time after he combined with Alexandre Lacazette before Slavia truly threatened first.
After starting the move with a raking diagonal ball from left to right, Lukas Provod charged forward to run onto a half-cleared cross but volleyed just over Bernd Leno’s bar.
It took 28 minutes for Arsenal’s first real attempt to arrive, Lacazette blazing high and wide when he had crossing options in the box. A minute later they let the visitors off the hook. Rob Holding strode forward and Saka took advantage of their disorganised defensive line to latch on to the defender’s through ball.
While Slavia waited for a flag that rightly never came, Saka strode forward but fired wide of the post.
Arsenal appealed for a penalty minutes into the second half when Saka tumbled after being manhandled by Zima as they chased Bellerin’s ball.
When Saka hit the deck he was well inside the box though replays confirmed Zima had wisely let go outside and referee Andreas Ekberg’s decision to award a free-kick was the correct one.
Willian curled the set-piece from the right-hand side of the area onto the outside of the post.
The next big chance came Arsenal’s way and it was one they should have taken.
Lacazette won the ball on halfway and had the whole of Slavia’s half to run onto and plenty of time to make up his mind.
By the time he reached Kolar, Lacazette opted for a rising, curling side-footed finish but bent the ball against the bar, with Smith Rowe beaten to the rebound.
Saka’s fizzing cross was then just too powerfully hit for the Frenchman to convert. But that was before Pepe’s late intervention — and then Holes’s even later one.
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Leno 6; Bellerin 6, Holding 7, Gabriel 7, Soares 7; Partey 6 (Elneny 78), Xhaka 6; Saka 7 (Pepe 78), Smith Rowe 6 (Ceballos 88), Willian 6 (Martinelli 6); Lacazette (Aubameyang 78). Subs not used: Ryan, Hein, Mari, Nelson, Nketiah, Hein, Azeez, Lopez. Booked: None. SLAVIA PRAGUE (4-2-3-1): Kolar 8; Bah 6, Zima 6, Holes 6, Boril 7; Hromada 6 (Sevick 46), Provod 7; Dorley 6 (Lingr 69), Stanciu 6 (Masopust 84), Olayinka 6 (Traore 85); Sima 6 (Kuchta 69). Subs not used: Stejskal, Tecl, Kovar, Visinsky. Booked: Zima. Man of the match: Ondrej Kolar Referee: Andreas Ekberg (Swe).