Profligate Arsenal progress to Europa League Quarter Finals

Arsenal 0 Olympiacos 1 
Europa League Round of 16 2nd Leg
Thursday 18th March 2021, 5.55pm

Although Arsenal seemed to have done the job in the first leg in Athens last week, Mikel Arteta didn’t take too many chances in his selection for last night’s return match at the Emirates against Olympiacos. Granted, there was no Bukayo Saka, whilst Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard were on the bench. Otherwise, it was a fairly strong team, with Pepe, Ceballos and Elneny the players less certain of starting if the manager went with his strongest current eleven (at least in his view – there is always a debate about David Luiz). It was indicative of the importance of qualifying that both Partey and Odegaard came on (for Elneny and Ceballos) in the 57th minute with the visitors a goal to the good. 

By that time, the home side should have made the game safe given the quality of two chances enjoyed in the first half. After a slow start, Pepe beat the keeper and you have to question his decision to try a shot with the defender in his way, when a simple pass to the returning (and presumably punctual) Aubameyang would have allowed a tap-in. Although Olympiacos rarely threatened, a route one ball did create a glorious chance that was saved by Leno. David Luiz looked particularly culpable here. Soon after Aubameyang fired over in front of goal from a meat and drink chance for a striker of his standing. All the same, Arsenal did look fairly comfortable, the one chance the visitors spurned the only real sign of threat. Doktor Schneide summarized the opening 45 minutes as follows: Loads of passes and little incisiveness.  Bit like watching Wayne Rooney on Mastermind.

Things changed after the interval and the second half proved more even. Olympicos benefited from Dani Ceballos – who had played well in the opening 45 - losing possession in the opposition half, but the break led to a shot being deflected off Gabriel and past Leno. David Luiz, again, could have done more to prevent the opportunity. I believe he is in the last season of his deal, and not before time. A 3-0 win would put Olympiacos through, and a 3-1 would mean extra time. Fortunately, they weren’t quite good enough to really make Arteta’s men hit the panic button, and although they certainly threatened, the best chances in the remainder of the game fell to Aubameyang, who is threatening to have another barren spell. 

Arsenal were helped by a foolish second yellow card for one of their three centre backs, Ousseynou Ba, with eight minutes left. Martinelli had come on for Emile Smith Rowe and looked lively. So much so that Ba blocked him off with an elbow, and compounded the sin by punching the ball in the direction of the referee. It felt like game over at that point, with any chance of a repeat of last season’s shock result was mitigated by the size of the first leg lead, and Olympiacos’ relative lack of quality going forward. 

It was good to see Sokratis back at the Emirates – in spite of his lack of finesse, he was always a committed player, although it was a shame there were no Arsenal fans present to acknowledge him. We await the draw for the last eight today. There are some decent sides remaining, but no-one Arsenal could not beat over two legs if they turn up with their A game. It was, of course, delightful to see Spurs make a surprise exit in their game in Zagreb, and many Gunners would have tuned in for extra time there.

Although Arsenal also suffered a defeat, it was no big deal in the context of the two legged-tie, and a game in which Aubameyang could afford to be as profligate as he was. Doktor Schneide with 20 minutes to go - Arsenal effortlessly going through the gears like a prototype WWI tank. It wasn’t the smoothest of performances, no question, but as a one-off game, they should have won on the balance of chances – they had far easier ones to score. For once, it didn’t matter and the team marches on. The Premier League feels like it has gone except for a chance of making a Europa League qualifying spot by finishing in 7th, yet a victory against West Ham this weekend might spark things up a bit. There’s certainly no need to rest anyone with the international break to follow. 

Last night was a tale of seeing the job through and a returning captain getting an off day in front of goal out of his system. Along with a couple of reminders that, defensively, there is still plenty of work to do. To win the Europa League, the team will have to be more clinical in attack and more switched on in defence. File under: work in progress.

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