Lacazette’s goal hands Arsenal slim win over Olympiakos
Alexandre Lacazette scored his second goal in two matches as the Gunners secured a 1-0 win against Olympiakos.
The home side started very much on top. Arsenal couldn’t get into the match early on and were helped out when Bernd Leno made a smart save inside the opening few minutes to keep the game at 0-0.
But Arsenal started to find a groove. Alexandre Lacazette and Gabriel Martinelli broke well after winning the ball back but the Brazilian’s backheel just didn’t have enough power to find his strike partner.
Martinelli and Lacazette combined again just before the 20-minute mark when the Brazilian teed him up but the former Lyon man struck wide. There wasn’t much else worth shouting about in a scrappy first half dominated by late challenges and misplaced passes.
The second half continued in very much the same vein as the first. There was sloppy build-up play from both sides and some toothless attacking. Olympiakos sat back a bit deeper in their own half and invited a wasteful Arsenal on. It stopped the Gunners from counter-attacking which was their main offensive weapon in the first half.
David Luiz had one of the better opportunities after the break as he strode forward with the ball and opened up the space. Much to the frustration of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who made a good run for a pass, the Brazilian scuffed a shot well wide.
It felt like the best chances in this match would come from set-pieces and that proved accurate. Ousseynou Ba got on the end of a free-kick and forced an excellent save from Leno. Fortunately, it wouldn’t have counted anyway.
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The game looked to be petering out as it entered the last 10 minutes at 0-0. But that was when Abuameyang picked the ball up down the left flank and slid it into Bukayo Saka. Suddenly, the game opened up as the 18-year-old took a touch before threading a ball across the face of goal for Lacazette to tap home his second goal in two games.
Suddenly, the game opened up. The Gunners broke clear from an Olympiakos corner and had the numbers advantage up top. The ball found its way to Lacazette but his powerful shot was too close to the goalkeeper. The resulting corner came into the box and Sokratis climbed highest to power his headed chance against the crossbar.
Arsenal just needed to keep the ball late on and they did just that to take a 1-0 advantage back home to London.