Half-Time Report: Napoli 0-1 Arsenal …. Lacazette makes the difference

Alexandre Lacazette’s free kick has given Arsenal the half-time lead and 3-0 advantage on aggregate, as Napoli had an Arkadiusz Milik goal flagged offside.

Arsenal had a very aggressive start, but were almost caught out on a rapid counter-attack led by Kalidou Koulibaly, who rolled across for Jose Callejon to force a Petr Cech save with his legs at the back post.

Arkadiusz Milik had the ball in the back of the net on 24 minutes, but was flagged offside in an extremely tight decision. There is no VAR in the Europa League, as otherwise that would’ve gone to a check.

Moments later, Milik was onside only to turn his diving header wide from a Piotr Zielinski cross in a very promising position.

Ramsey pulled up clutching his left hamstring and had to make way for Henrikh Mkhitaryan just 34 minutes in.

However, Arsenal scored with their first genuine opportunity, as Alex Meret did not set his wall out properly, leaving a huge gap at the far top corner where Alexandre Lacazette curled his free kick from 25 metres out.

This made it 3-0 on aggregate, with Napoli needing four goals to qualify, as Arsenal also now had a precious away goal.

Callejon continued to waste chances, his header over the bar and a ferocious volley wide of the far post on Insigne’s cross, while Zielinski also had an effort charged down by a sea of Arsenal legs.

Photo Credit: uefa.com