Europa League quarterfinal first leg
Arsenal continue to be play a very good football at home this season. The Gunners delivered a perfect first half and were able to be 2 goals up at the break against Napoli. The Italians came back better in the second half but did not put much pressure on Arsenal. The English club controlled the game and could have added a third goal.
This result shows Arsenal can compete with some of the best teams in Europe as the tie moves now to Naples in Italy. In front of their fans, the Italians will try to overcome the deficit to reach the last four of the Europa League. ComeOn put together the best odds for this much anticipated clash.
As a reminder Napoli finished third place during the Champions League first round in a group that showcased Liverpool FC and PSG. Thus, they are used to play big games.
Arsenal coach, Emery, comments on the big win before going to Italy:
We know the first leg today was very important for us to take a good result and a good feeling, also with our supporters and with this competition.
I think we deserved the result. The two halves were very different because in the first half we controlled the ball very well and controlled with our positioning and attacked their box with the players, scoring two goals and some chances more. We didn’t concede a lot for them, only the one chance they earned in the first half.
I think it’s a good result but we know it’s going to be very difficult because our performances at home have usually been very strong. They’re going to use their possibilities and attacking options against us for a comeback. Our objective now is to continue being competitive like we are here, away with our gameplay for the next matches.
I think the result is fair. They also created two chances but they didn’t score. Maybe we created also chances to do the third goal, but I think we can be happy with this result. Two-nil is a good result, 3-0 is a good result, but away we are going to play 90 minutes very different because they are going to be more competitive here than today because they will be in their stadium and with their supporters they have one step more in their aggressiveness and their efficiency. Our challenge and success is if we are going to be competitive away.
Each match is going to be very difficult. We are winning here because we feel very strong with our supporters and our confidence, with each player giving all they can. Away, we are fighting against teams. They feel the same when they play against us. For example, Watford on Monday is a very difficult match, because they are a good team and they are going t feel stronger at home with their supporters. It’s the same next week in Naples, they will feel different to today.
We need to be competitive, we need to be strong in our mentality to try to do the same situation we are doing at home. Sometimes when we have the ball with the first action, when we have space, we need to attack the space. Sometimes away, we’re a little more [cautious], losing the speed we have at home. This is our challenge to find our success in this season. We need to be consistent like we are at home, maybe in a different way, with different ideas, players or systems. But [we need] the same mentality when we play away.
