Arsenal got themselves an away goal as they beat Olympiacos 1-0 thanks to Alexandre Lacazette, who made up for an early miss.
Match Report
Alexandre Lacazette scored a late winner to secure Arsenal a 1-0 win at Olympiacos and hand the Gunners a significant advantage in their Europa League last-32 tie.
Mikel Arteta's men looked to be heading for an underwhelming goalless draw in Piraeus, but Lacazette struck nine minutes from time to get Arsenal a potentially vital away goal ahead of the return leg in London.
The Gunners had little difficulty taking control and should have netted early on when Lacazette was guilty of a dreadful miss, and the visitors failed to craft a better opportunity until late on.
Olympiacos generally appeared happy to hold on for a stalemate, but that approach backfired when Lacazette turned in Bukayo Saka's pass, putting Arsenal in complete control of the tie.
Match Events
3' Valbuena's shot stopped by Leno
Elabdellaoui swings a dangerous cross into the centre of the area which El-Arabi controls before picking out Valbuena. The Frenchman latches onto the throughball and sees his low, driven effort clawed away by Leno when it looked destined for the bottom right corner.
4' Masouras' header over the bar
Valbuena floats a glorious cross into the far post which Masouras somehow heads over from close range. The referee’s assistant, however, had his flag up for offside.
20' CLOSE! Lacazette's shot wide out
Some neat interplay on the edge of the box sees Lacazette combine with Willock before sending it across goal for Martinelli.
The Brazilian is unable to control the initial pass, but does pick out Lacazette with a return ball, and somehow the Frenchman fires wide from close range despite being unmarked. He should have done better there.
28' Xhaka's free kick stopped by Sa
Tsimikas brings down Willock and Arsenal have a free-kick in a dangerous central position. Xhaka’s well-struck effort takes a slight deflection on the way through but Sa is equal to the strike.
49' Lacazette goes down in the box but ref says no penalty!
Saka slides a throughball into the home side’s box for Lacazette to chase and, after taking a touch to set himself, the Frenchman is dispossessed by Ba who was alert to the danger.
51' David Luiz's long free kick wide out
Luiz tries one of his trademark free-kicks and it glides across the turf before fizzing just wide to the left of Sa’s goal.
63' Lacazette's header wide out
Xhaka creates yard of space just in off the left flank and whips a dangerous cross into the area. Lacazette gets across Ba but cannot get enough on the delivery to steer it towards goal. That was a decent opportunity for the Gunners.
71' Leno makes a decent save
El-Arabi knocks the ball away from Mustafi in seeking to drive down the left-hand side of the field, but the German is shown a yellow card for cynically catching the Olympiacos forward. The hosts now have a free-kick in a dangerous area.
74' Valbuena's long free kick stopped by Leno
Leno is down quickly to his right to keep out Valbuena’s well-struck free-kick before winning a set-piece of his own after being caught late by El-Arabi who sought to pounce on the ball after the German initially failed to hold it.
81' GOAL! Olympiakos 0-1 Arsenal (Lacazette)
Arsenal take the lead! Aubameyang shows incredible desire to keep the ball in play down the left flank before sliding a pass into the box for Saka to chase. The full-back gets his head up and picks out Lacazette in the middle who finds the bottom left corner from close range.
85' CHANCE! Lacazette's shot stopped by Sa
Arsenal launch a quick counter attack which results in Aubameyang sliding the ball into the path of Lacazette, but the Frenchman’s shot from the middle of the box is well saved by Sa.
86' CLOSE! Sokratis hits the beam
The resulting corner, which is delivered by Ceballos, is nodded against the bar by Sokratis before Mustafi heads the rebound just beyond the far post.
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