No persons under the age of 18 are permitted to gamble. South African Responsible Gambling Foundation toll free counselling line 0800 006 008
Commentary
Minute
Description
90' +6
FULL TIME: OLYMPIACOS 0-1 ARSENAL
90' +2
A. Maitland-Niles enters the game and replaces S. Papastathopoulos.
Arteta makes his final change of the match as Sokratis, who was struggling a few moments ago, is replaced by Maitland-Niles for the remaining minutes.
90' +1
O. Ba gets yellow.
Ba goes in late on Lacazette from behind, and the Gunners are awarded a free-kick a few yards inside the hosts’ half.
90'
There will be five added minutes at the end of this match.
83'
G. Xhaka gets yellow.
Xhaka is the latest player to receive a yellow card after cynically brining down Valbuena in the centre of the park.
81'
A. Lacazette has scored a goal for Arsenal! Assist by B. Saka.
GOAL! Arsenal take the lead! Aubameyang shows incredible desire to keep the ball in play down the left flank before sliding a pass into the box for Saka to chase. The full-back gets his head up and picks out Lacazette in the middle who finds the bottom left corner from close range. 1-0.
Saka has so often made the difference during this Europa League campaign for Arsenal and he does so again here. Aubameyang deserves real credit for keeping the attack alive, but Saka showed great composure to keep his cool and play in Lacazette who applied the finish. A well-worked goal.
80'
Fortounis tries his luck from range, but his tame effort goes wide to the right of Leno’s goal.
77'
Ceballos impedes Fortounis and the home side are awarded another free-kick. This time Valbuena’s lofted delivery is easily dealt with in the centre of the box by Mustafi.
75'
M. Lovera enters the game and replaces G. Masouras.
N. Pépé enters the game and replaces J. Willock.
Olympiacos respond by making a substitution of their own as Masouras is replaced by Lovera.
Arsenal make their second change of the match as Pepe comes onto the field in place of Willock. It remains 0-0.
74'
Camara shapes to shoot with his right foot before turning back onto his left and is clipped by Lacazette in the process. Olympiacos have a free-kick in a central position which Valbuena is standing over.
Minute
Description
71'
S. Mustafi gets yellow.
El-Arabi knocks the ball away from Mustafi in seeking to drive down the left-hand side of the field, but the German is shown a yellow card for cynically catching the Olympiacos forward. The hosts now have a free-kick in a dangerous area.
69'
Fortounis loses possession cheaply in the middle of the park and Xhaka claims the loose ball before sending Lacazette through down the left side of the box. The Frenchman looks for Aubameyang with a low cross, but Ba is well placed to cut it out.
67'
Guilherme lays a pass off to his left for Valbuena who opts to cut back onto his right foot before sending the ball into the box. With Masouras arriving, Leno is quickly off his line to punch the delivery to safety.
65'
K. Fortounis enters the game and replaces A. Bouchalakis.
Martins now makes his first substitution of the match as Bouchalakis is replaced by Fortounis. There are 25 minutes of normal time left to play.
61'
Guilherme goes in late on Ceballos and the Arsenal midfielder wins his side a free-kick just inside the visitors’ half.
58'
Dani Ceballos enters the game and replaces Gabriel Martinelli.
Arteta opts to make his first change of the match with Ceballos entering the fray in place of Martinelli. It remains 0-0.
57'
Luiz drags a hopeful shot from distance well wide of the near post.
56'
Martinelli attempts to turn away from Semedo after being played in down the left side of the box by Saka, but the Olympiacos defender is too strong for the Brazilian and comes away with the ball.
55'
Valbuena swings a corner into the area from the right which Lacazette easily heads to safety at the near post after Luiz was forced to concede the set-piece.
53'
Camara’s long-range effort takes a slight delfection before falling kindly for Leno to claim in the centre of the goal.
50'
A. Bouchalakis gets yellow.
Bouchalakis is the latest player to receive a yellow card after cynically catching Willock in a dangerous central area. Luiz is standing over the free-kick.
49'
Saka slides a throughball into the home side’s box for Lacazette to chase and, after taking a touch to set himself, the Frenchman is dispossessed by Ba who was alert to the danger.
48'
Saka fires a cross right across the box and Aubameyang fails to control it down the far side, allowing Valbuena to reclaim possession for the hosts.
46'
We are back underway! Zwayer, the referee, blows his whistle and Olympiacos get the second half kicked off.
45' +3
HALF TIME: OLYMPIACOS 0-0 ARSENAL
45' +2
Lacazette barges Bouchalakis to the ground and the hosts win a free-kick in their own half.
45'
There will be two added minutes at the end of the first half.
43'
Olympiacos fail to clear their lines on the edge of their own area which results in Willock wining a corner after lashing a right-footed strike against Ba. Once again, the set-piece comes to nothing as the hosts easily nod the ball to safety.
38'
Ba concedes a corner to the right after cutting out Willock’s cross. The resulting delivery, however, is overhit and runs out for a throw-in down the far side of the pitch.
36'
Saka chips an inviting ball into the centre of the Olympiacos area from the left flank. Willock beats Ba to the delivery, although the Englishman is adjudged to have fouled the Senegalese defender by pushing him in the back.
34'
Semedo launches a long, searching ball towards Valbuena who handles it in his efforts to take it down. Arsenal win a free-kick in their own half.
32'
The hosts are knocking the ball around comfortably at present as they attempt to force an opening from deep. Tsimikas looks for a one-two with Camara, but the midfielder’s return pass runs straight through to Leno.
28'
Tsimikas brings down Willock and Arsenal have a free-kick in a dangerous central position. Xhaka’s well-struck effort takes a slight deflection on the way through but Sa is equal to the strike.
26'
Rúben Semedo gets yellow.
Semedo is the latest player to go into the book after cynically bringing down Lacazette on the halfway line as Arsenal looked to break.
24'
Saka drives at the heart of the Olympiacos defence from full-back and spies the run of Martinelli to his left. The pass to his teammate, however, was delivered too late and the flag was up for offside.
22'
Willock looks to take on Semedo down the left side of the box before striking towards goal, but the midfielder’s left-footed shot is sliced well wide.
19'
Y. El-Arabi gets yellow.
El-Arabi is given the first yellow card of the match for catching Guendouzi’s foot with a late tackle on the edge of the visitors’ box. He can have no complaints with that decision.
17'
Valbuena slides the ball down the left-hand side of the field for the overlapping Tsimikas who clips a cross into the box. Luiz nods the delivery to the edge of the area, where Camara lashes a wild effort high into the air.
15'
Willock handles the ball after receiving possession from Sokratis down the right flank and Olympiacos are given another free-kick deep inside their own half.
13'
Martinelli catches Bouchalakis’ heels and the referee awards the home side a free-kick on the edge of their own box.
12'
Guilherme loses possession on the halfway line and Bouchalakis dives in to cleverly intercept Martinelli’s backheel pass as the Brazilian attempted to send Lacazette through one-on-one with Sa.
7'
Willock cheaply gives away possession in the centre of the park which allows Guilherme to pick out Masouras. The Greek forward tries his luck from range, but Luiz stands tall to make the block.
5'
Elabdellaoui is penalised for a handball and Arsenal win a free-kick inside their own half.
2'
Mustafi gives away an early free-kick after clattering into El-Arabi from behind. Valbuena takes the set-piece from the left flank, but there’s too much on it and it runs behind for a goal-kick.
1'
Kick off! The referee, Felix Zwayer, blows his whistle and Arsenal get the game underway.
Hello and welcome to live match coverage of the Europa League last-32 first leg between Olympiacos and Arsenal at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.
The home side have dropped into the Europa League after finishing third behind Bayern Munich and Tottenham in Group B in the Champions League. Olympiacos, however, come into this match full of confidence after beating Panionios 4-0 in their most recent league match. Arsenal, meanwhile, have set up this knock-out clash with Pedro Martins’ side after topping their Europa League group following a 2-2 draw in their last European outing against Standard Liege.
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Bernd Leno; Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, David Luiz, Bukayo Saka; Matteo Guendouzi, Granit Xhaka; Gabriel Martinelli, Joe Willock, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang; Alexandre Lacazette.
OLYMPIACOS SUBS: Bobby Allain, Avraam Papadopoulos, Pape Abou Cisse, Bruno Gaspar, Konstantinos Fortounis, Lazar Randjelovic, Maximiliano Lovera.
ARSENAL SUBS: Emiliano Martinez, Rob Holding, Sead Kolasinac, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Dani Ceballos, Nicolas Pepe, Eddie Nketiah.
The teams are out, and kick-off will soon be upon us here at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.
The hosts will be pleased with their first-half display and will look to continue in much the same fashion after the restart. Valbuena and Tsimikas have combined effectively down the left flank on numerous occasions, and that is route that they will continue to explore with Aubameyang not always quick to get back to do his defensive duties. Arteta’s side, meanwhile, will need to improve from an offensive standpoint if they are to secure an away goal with Sa yet to make a meaningful save aside from claiming Xhaka’s deflected free-kick.
Domestically, the hosts have enjoyed a strong campaign having gone 24 consecutive matches without defeat. On the other hand, in Europe, Martins’ team have struggled, winning only one game in their Champions League group campaign. Despite that, confidence will be high coming into this clash with Arsenal as Olympiacos are currently unbeaten in their last 18 matches in all competitions. However, since Mikel Arteta became the head coach of the Gunners, the visitors have lost just once in their previous 10 matches, keeping four clean sheets in that time.
Before these two sides meet again in a week’s time for the second leg, Olympiacos travel to PAOK for their next domestic fixture, while Arsenal host Everton in the Premier League.
That brings an end to our coverage of the Europa League last-32 first leg between Olympiacos and Arsenal at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium. Thank you very much for joining us. Goodbye!
Commentary
More…