[ad_1]
Risk and reward lie on both sides of the thinner divide. As the minutes wore on, this started to feel like another addition, perhaps the most critical, in the event that Arsenal are not quite ready to triumph with the style of play that Mikel Arteta desires. They had been superior to the Olympiakos in every way except the part of the brain that dictates when and how to weave intricate passing movements from behind. When Youssef El-Arabi finally punished them with a draw shortly before time, raising the specter of last season’s return heist, there was an obvious danger that they had been too smart for their own good.
Each Europa League tie carries a deep sense of danger for Arsenal given their domestic fatigue. They eventually cleared out on this one and got the convincing victory that, repeating offenses aside, their fluid performance was worth it. This is a better team than the one that plummeted against the same opponents in February 2020 – here they were able to prove it with a brave header from Gabriel and a long-range blast from substitute Mohamed Elneny. It should be enough to avoid a disaster at the Emirates next Thursday.
“I am very happy with the result, with the goals we scored and the way we played in the great moments,” said Arteta. “But we also have to be very honest with ourselves that we gave three [chances] our opponents and they scored one. To go to the next level we have to be more ruthless and kill games. “
Arsenal had deservedly led via lightning in the 34th minute from Martin Ødegaard, who missed a presentable early opportunity, but put his left foot through the ball from 25 yards and sent a heartbreaking shot to José Sá. He flew straight through the middle, but the goalkeeper was forcibly defeated. There was little doubt that the visitors had more goals in them: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had already been thwarted when Sá brilliantly kicked his deflected header to the crossbar and Olympiakos looked uneven under examination.
On Saturday, Burnley didn’t look much more robust before Granit Xhaka handed them parity on a plate. Arteta wants Arsenal to play from defense but, as he agreed in what was at times a carbon copy of the weekend’s post-match investigation, they have yet to hone their decision-making. They hadn’t dropped any pennies between the two games – a loose pass from Ødegaard before their opener saw Bruma squander Olympiakos’ first chance with a tame shot to Bernd Leno. As half-time approached, David Luiz handed the ball to Giorgos Masouras deep in the Arsenal box and was lucky to see the winger open horribly.
If it is careless to err twice, how is the third time described? Dani Ceballos had just replaced the excellent Thomas Partey when he received a short pass from Leno, who had clear options on his right but got him in horrible trouble. An El-Arabi alert stole it and, with Leno backing up unsuccessfully, hit the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
El-Arabi, who threw the dramatic late winner last time out, would have made matters worse if Héctor Bellerín hadn’t bravely deflected another just-wide shot. However, Arsenal took command again and the quality of their goals was impeccable. Gabriel intimidated substitute central defender Yann M’Vila when Willian hung on a deep cross and, through a tremendous run and jump, made a goal on an unstoppable shot. Then Elneny, who had recently entered, took aim from afar when a space was opened in midfield and found the corner to the left of Sá. “He’s been training really hard to improve his shooting range,” Arteta said.
The Fiver – Sign up and receive our daily soccer email.
Maybe it’s all part of the equation – maybe Arsenal will get to the point where conceding maddening goals becomes irrelevant as most of the quality at the other end prevails. But that seems a long way off and Arteta agreed that people could fairly say that Arsenal are their worst enemy. “They are not very far,” he said. “The goals and chances we have conceded come from ourselves. The reality is we have to stop it immediately. ”They’ll probably get away with it in a week, but their season depends on it.
