Arsenal Turn Rennes Tie Around to Advance to Europa League Quarters

Arsenal managed to overturn a 1-3 deficit on Thursday night at the Emirates, defeating Stade Rennais to advance to the Europa League Quarter-Final.

Despite Arsenal needing a big win to advance to the next round of the Europa League following their 3-1 defeat last week to Rennes, you always felt like the Gunners were going to get the job done in this one. They did exactly that, overturning the deficit against Stade Rennais by winning the 2nd leg 3-0 at the Emirates to advance to the quarter-finals of the Europa League. It wasn’t easy, but ultimately, Arsenal’s firepower up-front dragged them to victory, most notably through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The Gunners desperately needed a quick start, and they got exactly that in the 5th minute through the brilliance of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Aaron Ramsey, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – a trio that would maintain top performances throughout the match. Ramsey’s gut-bursting run split Rennes in 2, and he started and finished the move, finding Aubameyang for a simple finish in front of goal.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles added Arsenal’s 2nd goal just 10 minutes later, after a cross from Aubameyang following some excellent work out wide found the head of the onrushing full-back. Upon further inspection, Aubameyang was offside in the lead-up to the goal, and Rennes will feel hard-done by the lack of VAR and the incompetence of the officiating.

Despite going up 2 goals early, the match was never truly secure for Arsenal, who are always prone to defensive mistakes.

Although 2-0 was enough for Emery’s men to advance, Rennes scoring an away goal would have been deadly to their hopes of advancing. Following Maitland-Niles’ goal, Arsenal were shaky at times, mostly due to the erratic defending of Shkodran Mustafi, as usual. The French side did get a few fantastic chances, but the Gunners maintained their defensive organization quite well, seeing the offside flag go up a number of times on the Rennes forwards.

In the 72nd minute, Aubameyang added his second goal after a classic mouthwatering Kolasinac cross found him for the tap-in. The Gabonese international tapped into his roots, along with his past, and celebrated with a Black Panther mask for the fans and cameras, in a moment that will surely be remembered for some time.

Although Aubameyang managed to miss a few late chances that kept the match a bit nervy, it was his monumental performance that pulled Arsenal through this match.

Europa League remains an excellent route for Arsenal to get back into the Champions League, and with there being no clear-cut favourite at the moment, Unai Emery will be hoping that his past successes give his side the upper-hand as the tournament moves forward.