Firing from all cylinders! Arsenal stomp Slavia in Prague

The 1-1 first-leg draw and a precious away goal had Slavia Prague on the verge of the Europa League semi-finals. However, Arsenal had their say in this. Without their captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, more than a confident victory for the North Londoners - 0-4.

News of Aubameyang being hospitalized due to catching malaria surprised everyone. His teammates had the Gabonese in their hearts and minds and gave a superb show to proceed to the Europa League semi-finals.

Arsenal came out with authority. Smith-Rowe's disallowed goal in the 16th minute was just a trailer to what was coming in the following 8 minutes.

Nicolas Pepe put the Gunners in front in the 18th minute - Emile Smith-Rowe was in a good position inside the box but decided to pass the ball to Pepe, who kept his cool and sent the ball inside the left post.

Of players still involved in the 2020-21 Europa League, only Roma’s Borja Mayoral (9) has been directly involved in more goals in the competition this season than Arsenal’s Ivorian (8 – 5 goals, 3 assists).

Arteta's men tripled their lead after 6 more minutes. Courtesy of tonight's skipper Alexander Lacazzete and the star youngster Bukayo Saka. Frenchman scored from the penalty spot while the Englishman found the net from open play - his perfect strike from the edge of the box was too much for Kolar.

After three quick goals, Arsenal had few minor chances. Slavia slowly took the ball over and attempted to get back in the game but the conceded goals were quite a shock so none of he chances hosts created were too dangerous for Leno.

Second half passed in Arsenal bringing the match to an end calmly. There were chances for Slavia such as one in the 56th minute when Peter Olayinka tried with a header which went well over the crossbar.

Lacazzete took the stage again and scored his second in the 77th minute. Lacazzete had acres of space after latching on to a precise pass inside the box. He didn't hesitate to send a great effort in the bottom left corner.

Lacazette has scored 18 goals in the knockout stages of the Europa League; since 2009-10, only Radamel Falcao (20) and Kevin Gameiro (19) have netted more.

The most active player in today's match was definitely Daniel Ceballos. He's tried to be on the ball as much as possible and you could literally see the enthusiasm in his play. He kept exchanging some one touch passes and waited for the right moments to send penetrating passes.

Huge match for Arsenal - mentally above all. Their second victory in a row (after defeating Sheffield United in Premier League) with a clean sheet and 3 or more goals scored.

Red Devils comfortably through to the semi-finals of the Europa League

After tonight's games, Arsenal will be meeting Villareal in the semi-finals with the Gunners former coach and Europa League specialist Unai Emery currently coaching the Spanish club. Manchester United, who defeated Granada, will face Roma.

Semi-final opening ties will be played on the 29th of April while second legs will occur on the 6th of May.

EUROPA LEAGUE

Quarterfinals (Second leg)

Thursday

Roma - Ajax 1-1 (0-0) /First leg 2-1/

/Dzeko 72' - Brobbey 49'/

Roma win 3-2 on aggregate.

Villareal - Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 (2-0) /First leg 1-0/

/Alcacer 36', Moreno 43' - Orsic 75'/

Villareal win 3-1 on aggregate.

Manchester United - Granada 2-0 (1-0) /First leg 2-0/

/Cavani 6', Vallejo 90' og/

Manchester United win 4-0 on aggregate.

Slavia Prague - Arsenal 0-4 (0-3) /First leg 1-1/

/Pepe 18', Lacazzete 21' pen, 77', Saka 24'/

Arsenal win 5-1 on aggregate.