Europa League
Hat-Trick Hero Aubameyang Propels Arsenal Into Europa Final
Known as the Europa League specialist, Unai Emery is firmly living up to his reputation. The Arsenal manager has won the last three Europa Leagues in which he has participated, all as manager of Sevilla. On Thursday, the Spaniard’s side put Valencia to the sword with an impressive 4-2 win at the intimidating Mestalla Stadium.
The result means Emery is now ninety minutes from an unprecedented fourth Europa title in four attempts. When examined from another angle, Arsenal’s 7-3 aggregate triumph over Valencia means Emery has now won his last 19 Europa League knockout match-ups. Considering the majority of those victories came at the helm of a financially-limited Sevilla side, it is a remarkable statistic.
Emery’s Impressive Europa League Run Needs It’s Crown Jewel
It has been a roller-coaster season for Emery and the Gunners, a season in which Emery has come under criticism on several occasions. Notwithstanding some dark moments, reaching this stage of the competition with Arsenal is a significant achievement for Emery. This year’s group of players is certainly the most talented he has brought to the Europa League final. However, it is likely also the most fragile.
Physically, Arsenal are without Aaron Ramsey, Héctor Bellerin, Rob Holding, and Danny Welbeck due to injury. Mentally, their issues are perhaps even greater. The Gunners managed only four points from their vital last six league games, a massive failure. Additionally, their away record has been nothing short of abysmal. Emery has managed to allow his side to compartmentalize the Europa League. The Gunners turned in some masterful displays in Europe. Initially, Arsenal managed to overturn first-leg deficits against Borisov and Rennes. Then in the quarterfinal and semifinal, Arsenal dismantled Napoli and Valencia 3-0 and 7-3 respectively.
Emery’s Mission
Emery’s mission to begin the season was to get Arsenal into the Champions League. Merely days ago, Arsenal embarrassingly squandered its chance of finishing in the top four. Therefore, winning the Europa League is the only remaining avenue for the Gunners to dine at Europe’s top table next season. Emery will welcome the clarity of being able to focus solely on the competition that his brought him so much success.
Whether Emery’s first year at Arsenal is deemed a success will be determined after the Europa League final against Chelsea. Arsenal and Emery desperately need to hoist that trophy. Qualifying for the Champions League will provide Arsenal with the status and financial resources needed to attract top players in the transfer market. For Emery, a fourth Europa League will provide him with the job security needed to execute his disciplinarian style.
Arsenal Manage To Prevent Another Miraculous European Comeback
It has been a truly remarkable week of European football, in both the Champions League and Europa League. Barcelona and Ajax both surrendered three goal aggregate advantages to cost themselves places in the Champions League final. However, if there was one side entering the weak that would be most likely to give up a multi-goal advantage, it was Arsenal.
The Gunners won the first leg of the Europa League semifinal against Valencia 3-1 in London. The away goal meant that a 2-0 victory in Spain would send Valencia through to the final. Given Arsenal’s horrendous recent form, particularly on the road, many predicted Valencia would get an early goal and Arsenal would crumble.
Things were going according to plan for those prognosticators when Valencia struck on the counter attack in the eleventh minute. Kevin Gameiro was on hand to slot home a sliding finish, sending the Mestalla crowd into a frenzy. Instead of crumbling like they’d done so often under pressure recently, Arsenal grew stronger. The Gunners managed to score the next two goals to effectively kill the tie.
There would be no exhilarating comeback or crushing collapse this night. In fact, all of England’s our teams participating in European semifinals gave great accounts of themselves. Tottenham and Liverpool each overturned massive deficit in instant-classic Champions League match-ups to reach the final in Madrid. In the second-tier Europa League, Chelsea used consecutive saves from Kepa to overturn a penalty kick deficit. The result is that all four finalists will represent the same nation for the first time ever. Take a bow, Premier league.
Aubameyang Propels Arsenal
Despite being tied for second in England’s golden boot race, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has faced heavy criticism in recent weeks. Arsenal faded from the top four race while the striker missed a series of chances that could have rescued some vital points. Additionally, the striker faced familiar questions about his hold-up play, passing and decision making. Fans were unsure whether he was doing enough to be considered world-class.
At Valencia, Aubameyang proved his worth. His first of three was the most important and perhaps the most difficult. He reacted quickest to a knocked-down header from his strike partner Lacazette to score a brilliant half-volley from 20 yards away. The goal meant Valencia would need to score three more to advance.
Gameiro
The hosts did manage a second, again through Gameiro from a scrappy finish. Aubameyang though was unfazed and managed to come up with two more himself to complete his trifecta. His second was a classic poacher’s finish, as his darting run provided him with a yard of space to turn home a cross at the near-post.
The striker’s third was a throwback to his Dortmund days. A brilliant back-heel pass to begin a give-and-go with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who stared at Dortmund with Aubameyang, provided space to shoot from an acute angle. With supreme confidence, the Gabonese striker rifled the ball into the roof of the net. There was never any chance of a save from the keeper. The goal capped off a brilliant night for Aubameyang and Arsenal. While this will momentarily silence his critics, he and his teammates know they need to do produce once more in the final in Baku to appease the Arsenal fans after what has been a trying season.
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Written by Morgan Zimmerglass
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Photo credit to Arsenal via Twitter
