Lacazette silences Olympiakos and snatches victory for Arsenal
In Greece’s port city, Mikel Arteta could be forgiven for thinking his ship had come in. He had asked his young Arsenal players to block out the heat generated by the raucous, relentless atmosphere that makes this one of Europe’s most difficult venues for the uninitiated and their response, after an unnerving start, formed the latest step in the increasingly convincing revolution that is breathing life into a troubled campaign.
Olympiakos had begun as if determined to blow their opponents away and, in doing so, stop Arsenal’s hopes of Champions League qualification in their tracks. Winning this competition seems, by some way, their best chance of returning to the top table but for 15 minutes they were rabbits in the headlights and the priority at that point was simply to stay in the tie. They did that with steadily increasing levels of assurance and then, nine minutes from time, scored a goal that may look especially significant by the end of May.
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It was tapped in by Alexandre Lacazette, whose return to some kind of form is a welcome footnote, but the conversation afterwards centred upon its architect. Bukayo Saka, a reluctant left-back who just happens to have the hallmarks of an exceptional one, had endured a frustrating night in possession or, more accurately, through the lack of it. His teammates had rarely picked out his bursts upfield but then, after doing superbly to keep a diagonal ball in play, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang spotted him darting inside and into space. The attribute that will, perhaps above all others, propel Saka to the top is his final ball; this one was low, curving and weighted in such a way that Lacazette could not miss and the biggest compliment one can give is that such accuracy was entirely unsurprising.
Saka turned 18 in September and would, all things equal, much rather be playing further forwards. But he has now made nine assists this season, more than any other Arsenal player, and his ability to break the lines at searing pace from deep must make the temptation to nurture him in the full-back role almost irresistible.
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“There’s a lot of highlights on him at the moment but he’s really humble,” Arteta said. “He’s a great kid and he’s very brave. He makes big decisions in the final third, he doesn’t hide and he’s got the vision and ability to execute in spaces that are really tight, which is a big gift.”
The game had been begging for that moment of quality. Arteta was right to point out Arsenal were tormented in those early moments, suffering because “we did not do the things we talked about and the execution on the simple things was poor”.
Olympiakos, who had held Spurs here before dropping out of the Champions League group stage, were intense and insistent even if those qualities did not translate into many clear chances.
Mathieu Valbuena did force an early save from Bernd Leno, for whom a rare European outing was hard evidence of the importance Arteta has placed upon this competition, and then delivered a teasing cross that Giorgos Masouras headed off target at close quarters. Masouras was fortunate to be flagged marginally offside but the red and white waves kept crashing into Arsenal’s backline, Leno having to spare David Luiz an own goal while another impressive left-back, Kostas Tsimikas, caused problems with his own forward runs.
Yet there was always something in this for Arsenal, even if for most of the game it lay just out of view. Lacazette missed their best two first-half chances, failing to make contact with Aubameyang’s cross and then flashing wide when he should have buried a cutback from Gabriel Martinelli. They rarely looked composed enough in possession to create much more, even though Matteo Guendouzi – recalled after a disagreement with Arteta during the winter break – and the impressive Joe Willock began to cleave through midfield with increasing frequency before the interval.
Much of the second half was best forgotten. Olympiakos’s sting had ultimately been drawn with relative ease although they had looked marginally the more likely winners in the moments before Lacazette’s goal, Valbuena finding his range from a succession of cheaply conceded set pieces and coming particularly close when forcing Leno to make a sprawling save from a 25-yard free-kick.
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Arteta was as pleased with a third consecutive clean sheet, an almost unthinkable prospect when he took over, as anything else. “We tell them they have to enjoy defending as well,” he said. “It’s a big part of the game and, like tonight, if you give simple balls away you’d better run back and get that ball back as quickly as possible. But they play with a big heart.”
Had things been in even better working order at the other end, Arsenal might have extended their lead late on and virtually killed the tie. Lacazette was denied well by José Sá and Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who was briefly confronted by a home fan when he left the field in added time, headed against the bar.
“The tie is completely open,” Arteta said and the possibility of a happy end to a seemingly accursed season has now exposed itself to Arsenal too.
