Arsenal took a huge step towards the quarter-finals of the Europa League by beating Olympiacos 3-1 in Athens in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
Here’s how Simon Collings rated Mikel Arteta’s side...
Bernd Leno 5
The German won’t want to see a replay of the Olympiacos goal as he and Dani Ceballos contrived to left the Greek side back into the match.
Hector Bellerin 7
Was solid defensively and looked better going forward. The Spaniard has been out of form recently but he looked better tonight.
David Luiz 6
Not at his best tonight and was almost caught out in the first-half when trying to play out from the back.
Gabriel 8 | Star man
Looking more and more like his old self and back to the player we saw at the start of the season. A strong performance capped off by scoring a brilliant header late on.
Kieran Tierney 7
One of Arsenal’s biggest attacking threats as he continually got down the left on the overlap. A decent performance during a frustrating game.
Thomas Partey 6
A solid display from the midfielder, who was neat and tidy but not spectacular. Taken off before the hour mark for Ceballos.
Granit Xhaka 7
A much better performance from the Switzerland international after his nightmare game against Burnley. Quiet and understated.
Bukayo Saka 6
Came in for some rough treatment from the Olympiacos defence, who brought him down before he could get going. A quiet night.
Martin Odegaard 7
Was having a difficult game but then turned things around with his goal. It was a sweet strike, but the goalkeeping left a bit to be desired.
Willian 8
One of the Brazilian’s best games. Linked up nicely with Tierney down the left flank and setup Gabriel’s goal with a great cross.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 6
Almost scored a header early on but was denied by a great save. Looked threatening every now and then, but a fairly quiet game for the captain.
Substitutes
Dani Ceballos (Partey 55’) 5
Had the ball knicked off him for the Olympiacos goal and struggled to get into the game after coming off the bench.
Mohamed Elneny (Willian 82’) 7
Off the bench and scored a huge goal in the tie by slapping one home into the bottom corner from 25 yards.
Emile Smith Rowe (Odegaard 82’) N/A
Nicolas Pepe (Saka 82’) N/A
Alexandre Lacazette (Aubameyang 88’) N/A
Subs not used: Hein, Ryan, Holding, Chambers, Mari, Cedric, Martinelli.
