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Arsenal Beat BATE to Advance to Europa League Round of 16

By Mahith Gamage

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 21: Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team's third goal with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 Second Leg match between Arsenal and BATE Borisov at Emirates Stadium on February 21, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 21: Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team's third goal with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 Second Leg match between Arsenal and BATE Borisov at Emirates Stadium on February 21, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal saved themselves embarrassment by comfortably beating BATE Borisov 3-0 on Thursday in the Europa League Round of 32, overturning a 0-1 deficit from the first leg to advance to the Round of 16.

Last Thursday, Arsenal put in arguably their worst performance of the season away in Borisov for the first leg of their Europa League round of 32 clash, and left the match disheartened at an embarrassing 0-1 defeat to a BATE side that hadn’t played a game of football in 2 months. This week though, Arsenal were able to overturn the deficit and run out 3-1 winners of the tie, advancing to the round of 16 in the competition. Although Arsenal struggled to finish chances from open play, it was a comfortable win and a great opportunity for Mesut Ozil to get a long-awaited 90-minute shift.

Arsenal opened the scoring early on, when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made a darting run with the ball down the right flank and swung the ball into the box. The ball was turned in by BATE defender Zakhar Volkov in a disastrous own goal, in which he couldn’t sort his feet out in time. Shkodran Mustafi grabbed what proved to be the winning goal in the tie later in the first half, when he turned home a Granit Xhaka corner, using his aerial prowess, arguably the strongest of his minimal qualities

The tie was sealed in the 2nd half, when the 2nd set-piece goal found the back of the net, this time via Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who had come off the bench only minutes prior.

Granit Xhaka proved to be the standout performer on the night, with 2 assists from the corner flag completementing some exquisite combinations with Iwobi and Ozil, who also put in superb shifts.

The match also featured a 37-year-old Alexander Hleb in his return to the Emirates, where he played for the Gunners between 2005 and 2008 and stamped himself as a fan favourite.

It took 2 legs for Arsenal to cement their place in the Europa League last 16, but all that matters is that they got there in the end. The Gunners will be among the favourites to win the entire competition, although the likes of Inter Milan, Napoli, and Chelsea will prove to be stern tests.

Next. Arsene Wenger Honoured at Laureus Awards, and even Praised by Mourinho!. dark

Southampton awaits Arsenal this Sunday, with a massive North London derby upcoming next weekend.

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