BEVERLY HILLS, February 15, (THEWILL) – Arsene Wenger’s men enjoyed a comfortable evening in freezing conditions in central Sweden to secure a comfortable Europa League victory over Ostersund.
The first leg of this Round-of-32 tie was played in Ostersund’s Jamtkraft Arena, surrounded by snow drifts and furnished with an unfamiliar 4G surface, artificial turf – but a strong Arsenal side overcame trying conditions to win 3-0.
Arsenal, sitting eight points off the top four in the premier league, know that winning the Europa League presents the Gunners with their best shot of returning to the Champions League.
That explains why the likes of Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were included in the team for the game.
Nacho Monreal and Mesut Ozil got their names on the scoresheet with an own goal from Sotirios Papagiannopoulos completing the scoring in freezing conditions with Ostersund missing a last-gasp penalty saved by David Ospina, who was given the captain’s armband for the evening.
Spaniard Monreal got the first goal before the OG put the Gunners two goals to the good at the break, with Ozil adding some gloss to the scoreline in the second half.
It gives Arsene Wenger’s side some breathing space as they prepare for their EFL Cup Final against Manchester City, and can probably afford to rest players in the return leg at the Emirates.
Score line from other Europa matches:
Astana 1 – 3 Sporting CP
Borussia Dortmund 3 – 2 Atalanta
Ludogorets Raz… 0 – 3 AC Milan
Marseille 3 – 0 Braga
Nice 2 – 3 Lokomotiv Mosc.
Real Sociedad 2 – 2 Salzburg
Spartak Moscow 1 – 3 Athletic Bilbao
AEK Athens 1 – 1 Dynamo Kyiv
Celtic 1 – 0 Zenit St. Peters.
FC FCSB 1 – 0 Lazio
FC Koebenhavn 1 – 4 Atletico Madrid
Lyon 3 – 1 Villarreal
Partizan Beograd 1 – 1 Viktoria Plzen
SSC Napoli 1 – 3 RasenBallsport
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