Under-fire Arsenal gun down Milan
● Away win is perfect tonic for boss Wenger
Saul Niguez’s stunning solo strike inspired Atletico Madrid to a deserved 3-0 win against Lokomotiv Moscow at Estadio Metropolitano.
The midfielder opened the scoring to set the two-time Europa League winners on course for the quarter-finals.
His effort came after he rode a challenge near the halfway line before advancing and, as the Moscow defence backed off, unleashed an unstoppable effort which darted into the top corner. Diego Costa then added a second two minutes after the break and Koke bagged a late third with Atletico in control.
Valon Berisha’s double earned Red Bull Salzburg a 2-1 win at Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund.
The Norway midfielder scored twice for the Austrians in the second half, his first a penalty, but Andre Schurrle pulled a goal back to keep the tie alive for Dortmund.
In Russia, Lyon also grabbed a slender 1-0 first-leg lead against CSKA Moscow thanks to Marcelo’s first-half goal.
Junior Moraes’ stunning strike earned Dynamo Kiev a 2-2 draw at Lazio.
Viktor Tsygankov backheeled Dynamo ahead in the 52nd minute before the hosts hit back with two quick goals by Ciro Immobile and Felipe Anderson. Moraes struck in the 79th minute from outside the box to restore parity before Immobile was denied a last-gasp winner when he hit the post.
A Fredy Montero brace either side of half-time put Sporting in control as they claimed a 2-0 win over Viktoria Plzen in Lisbon .
Lucas Ocampos netted inside the first minute as Marseille cruised to a 3-1 home win over Athletic Bilbao.
Captain Dimitri Payet made it 2-0 after 14 minutes. Aritz Aduriz pulled one back for Bilbao from the penalty spot before Ocampos struck again in the second half.
RB Leipzig defeated Celtic’s conquerors Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 in Germany. Armindo Bruma and Timo Werner put the hosts 2-0 ahead but Domenico Criscito got one back for Zenit from a free kick.
ARSENAL
Mkhitaryan 15, Ramsey 45 Arsenal eased to victory over AC Milan to move towards a place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
The Gunners were at a low ebb heading to Italy after a run of four consecutive defeats had cranked up the pressure on manager Arsene Wenger.
This was supposed to be another tough challenge but, instead, Arsenal outclassed an admittedly poor Milan side as Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aaron Ramsey struck in the first half to seal a 2-0 win in the first leg of this last-16 tie.
Mkhitaryan shone in the Europa League for Manchester United last season and topped that off by scoring in the final as the Red Devils saw off Ajax. Wenger would love a similar run in this competition as all hopes of returning to the Champions League through the Premier League have all but ended as Arsenal sit 13 points off the top four.
Milan had lost just one of their previous 20 European matches at home and Gennaro Gattuso’s side were inches away from taking the lead in the second minute as Giacomo Bonaventura slid in at the back post but could not make contact with a deflected cross.
Arsenal also looked to make early inroads and one smart move ended with Mkhitaryan firing into the side-netting.
And it was to be the visitors who took the lead when the impressive Mkhitaryan cut inside from Mesut Ozil’s pass before beating Gianluigi Donnarumma with a strike which deflected in off Milan skipper Leonardo Bonucci.
The home fans started to show their restlessness as Milan’s players struggled to impose themselves.
Calum Chambers forced a decent save out of Donnarumma with a well-struck effort before Danny Welbeck passed up a glorious chance to add a second for Arsenal.
The Londoners broke after a wasted Milan free-kick and Welbeck switched play to Mkhitaryan who clipped the top of the bar with his shot.
Arsenal did, though, deservedly added to their lead before half-time when Ramsey showed superb composure to control Ozil’s pass and round Donnarumma to tuck home.
Welbeck again failed to convert when in behind before Bonaventura blazed over from
0 Aaron Ramsey: Second goal. inside the box as Milan went in search of a response.
Some mistakes crept into Arsenal’s game, not helped when Sead Kolasinac limped off to be replaced by Ainsley Maitland-niles. But Milan never really looked good enough to threaten David Ospina’s clean sheet, Suso firing well wide before Franck Kessie was challenged well by Laurent Koscielny as he looked to get a shot away.
There were no late moments of drama for Arsenal who saw the game out in a professional manner.