Arteta’s Arsenal greet fans with Europa win, Spurs scrape through
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenla welcomed 2,000 supporters into the Emirates for their 4-1 Europa League win over Rapid Vienna. Arsenal’s last home match with a crowd was back in March prior to a three-month stoppage of the sport due to COVID-19.
Since returning in June, top-flight football has been played behind closed doors with Arsenal fans missing out on seeing their side win the FA Cup and Community Shield at Wembley.
“It’s been a long nine months since the last game,” said Javed Singh. “I’m excited, it’s a bit of a dead rubber game but good to be back in the stadium. Just great to see a game in person.”
Despite Arsenal having already booked their place in the Europa League knockout stages, demand from fans to be one of the lucky few back through the gates crashed the club website on Saturday morning.
The atmosphere inspired a much-changed side on the field as manager Arteta looked ahead of Sunday’s North London derby against Premier League leaders Totenham.
There was soon something to cheer as Alexandre Lacazete smashed in a stunning long-range strike top open the scoring on 10 minutes and ran to celebrate in front of the fans.
Pablo Mari quickly headed home a second on his first appearance since March.
Eddie Nketiah added a third before half-time before Kohya Kitagawa’s consolation for the Austrians drew pantomime boos from the crowd.
Substitute Emile Smith Rowe rounded off the scoring on a night that will be best remembered for what happened off the field.
SPURS SCRAPE A DRAW: Premier League leaders Totenham struggled to gain the draw they needed in Linz, finishing 3-3 on Thursday thanks to two penalties, to secure a place in the knock-out rounds of the Europa League.
The result in Austria ensured that Antwerp will also advance from Group J.
Elsewhere, Braga, AC Milan, Lille, Villarreal, Dinamo Zagreb, Red Star Belgrade, Slavia Prague, Bayer Leverkusen, Rangers, Benfica, Granada and Eindhoven ensured their places in the last 32 with one round of group games still to play.
They join Leicester, Arsenal, Hoffenheim and Roma who had already qualified.
In Linz, the hosts dominated the first half but only scored once, through Peter Michorl. Spurs, who had not managed a shot on target, won a penalty for handball in added time. Gareth Bale converted for his 200th career goal.
Son Heung-min put Spurs ahead on the counter atack in the 56th minute.
Despite Mourinho making a series of defensive
While Arsenal posted a routine win, EPL leaders Totenham struggled to gain the draw they needed in Linz, finishing 3-3 on Thursday thanks to two penalties, to secure a place in Europa’s knock-out rounds
substitutions, in the 84th minute Johannes Eggestein still found a huge hole and lashed in a shot that Joe Hart reached but could not keep out.
Three minutes later, Spurs regained the lead. One of the two atacking players, Steven Bergwijn was tripped to earn a penalty and the other, Dele Alli, swept it home.
Spurs could not keep the lead. Young Frenchman Mamoudou Karamoko smashed in an equaliser from outside the box in added time. The draw was enough to put Totenham through and next week they will host Antwerp, who beat Ludogorets 3-1, with first place at stake. In Group H, AC Milan fell two goals behind at home to eliminated Celtic but rallied to win 4-2 and advance.
Tom Rogic and Odsonne Edouard scored for the visitors in the first 14 minutes, but Hakan Calhanoglu and Samuel Castillejo responded with two quick goals midway through the half.
Jens Peter Hauger and Brahim Diaz, with a clever chip, struck in the second half.
Milan are second in the group, one point behind Lille who also came from behind to win at home.
Celtic’s neighbours city Rangers, advanced with 3-2 home victory over Standard Liege. The Belgians, who need to win, took the lead twice in the first half, but James Tavernier hit a penalty just before half time. Scot Arfield won the game in the 65th minute, running onto a pull back to end a crisp move with a precise low drive.