Despite Mikel Arteta's Arsenal winning 1-3 in Piraeus in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16, Olympiacos added excitement to the night this Thursday at the Emirates thanks to a goal scored by El Arabi in minute 51. However, the comeback of the Greek team was not consummated and the Londoners will not miss the appointment of the quarterfinals despite the defeat (0-1).
A year ago, the 'gunner' team was eliminated by Olympiacos from the Europa League itself. This time Arsenal were not surprised, despite not having a brilliant match and living on income. In the first part there was a clear chance for each team.
Aubameyang, back
The Olympiacos opportunity was led by El Arabi himself and Bernd Leno, Arsenal goalkeeper, responded with a great save. The Arteta team was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, back and with the captaincy recovered after missing the derby against Tottenham as punishment for being late to the camp, and the ball went wide.
Olympiacos fared better than Arsenal after the break and, after a pair of dangerous arrivals, El Arabi scored on a counterattack from the Greek team. The hopes of the team led by Pedro Martins to achieve the feat and once again eliminate the ‘gunners’ from the Europa League were reborn. However, this time there was no comeback.
The changes that Arteta made, especially with the entry of Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli, improved his team's game. In addition, the Greeks were left with 10 on the field when Ousseynou Ba saw a red card in the 83rd minute. Nicolas Pepé on one occasion and Aubameyang on 2 had opportunities in a rather gray Arsenal match, but the passport did not escape. quarter despite defeat (after 5 games without losing in all competitions, 4 wins for the Gunners and a draw).