
Having lost the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City and on a run of four successive defeats, including a 2-1 Premier League reverse at Brighton last weekend – which leaves it 13 points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham – the Europa League may be the last chance for Arsene Wenger’s team to reach next season’s Champions League.
And after weathering an early storm, the inconsistent Gunners stunned the host, going 2-0 up before the interval with goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aaron Ramsey.
The Gunners began the game playing predominately on the break and those tactics paid off in style after 15 minutes – thanks to a large dollop of luck.
A clever, lofted pass from Mesut Ozil picked out Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the host’s penalty area.
The Armenian chested it down, rounded defender Davide Calabria and fired goalwards, the ball finding the roof of the net via a wicked deflection, putting the Gunners 1-0 up.
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