Napoli win but go out, red-faced Arsenal lose and go through

Napoli came agonisingly close to pulling off a dramatic Europa League comeback when they won 2-0 at RB Leipzig but went out on away goals at the last 32 stage on Thursday while Arsenal got through despite an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat by Ostersund.

Borussia Dortmund snatched a late goal at Atalanta to progress with a 1-1 draw, while AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, both with three-goal leads from the away legs, completed the formality of qualifying with 1-0 wins at home on Thursday.

The evening was marred by the death of a policeman in Bilbao after rivals fans fought in the streets before the match between local side Athletic and Spartak Moscow, won 2-1 by the Russian team who still went out 4-3 on aggregate.

Arsenal had a three-goal lead from last week’s win in Sweden but were rattled when Hosam Aiesh and Ken Sema scored twice in two minutes for Ostersund midway through the first half.

The North London side were spared further humiliation, though, after Ronald Mukiibi miscued when trying to clear a cross and defender Sead Kolasinac thumped the ball into the net from close range two minutes into the second half.

Napoli lost 3-1 in last week’s first leg against Leipzig with a performance that embarrassed coach Maurizio Sarri, though he has emphasised that winning Serie A is the priority.

They restored some pride in the return as Piotr Zielinski scored from a rebound in the 33rd minute and Lorenzo Insigne turned in Jose Callejon’s cross with five minutes to go.

That set up a rousing finale and Callejon could even have won the tie in stoppage time but his shot sailed over.

LAST-GASP DORTMUND

Atalanta scored against Dortmund when Rafael Toloi prodded the ball home at the far post after Mattia Caldara flicked on a corner in the 11th minute to make it 3-3 on aggregate.

There were then chances at both ends until Dortmund’s Marcel Schmelzer snapped up the rebound, after Etrit Berisha failed to hold a Marco Reus shot, to put the Bundesliga side through.

Lazio striker Ciro Immobile got a hat-trick in a 5-1 win over FCSB, formerly Steaua Bucharest, after a 1-0 first-leg loss.

Russian pair Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg both won at home in frigid conditions to also progress.

Igor Denisov’s first-half goal gave Lokomotiv a 1-0 win over Nice, completing a 4-2 aggregate victory, while Zenit beat Celtic 3-0 to go through 3-1 with goals from Branislav Ivanovic, Daler Kuzyaev and Aleksandr Kokorin.

“We dominated the game. We didn’t concede any chances until the 70th minute,” said Zenit coach Roberto Mancini after a match which kicked off in a temperature of minus 13 Celsius.

“After 70 minutes we tired a bit but this is normal, but in the end we deserved to win.”

Atletico Madrid, leading 4-1 from the first leg, completed their tie at home to FC Copenhagen when Kevin Gameiro’s early goal gave them a 1-0 victory and AC Milan beat Ludogorets by the same score with a Fabio Borini goal for a 4-0 aggregate win.

Dynamo Kiev, Sporting, Viktoria Plzen, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique Marseille and Salzburg also qualified and will go into the hat for the last 16 draw which will be made on Friday.

source: news agency

Ozil commits long-term future to Arsenal

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has signed a new contract to extend his stay in north London, the Premier League club said on Thursday.

The 29-year-old Germany international confirmed on Twitter that he had agreed a three-and-a-half year deal.

“It’s been one of the most important decisions of my footballing career and that’s why I had to think hard and talk to everyone who’s important to me,” Ozil said.

Ozil’s contract had been due to expire at the end of the season.

“Good things take time. In the end, I let my heart decide. As I always said, I feel at home here and I‘m highly motivated to achieve big things in the next few years. Once a Gunner, always a Gunner.”

British media reported that the new deal is worth up to 350,000 pounds ($500,000) a week, making the World Cup winner the highest-paid player at the club.

Ozil joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013 for a then club-record of about 42.5 million pounds.

The playmaker has made 182 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions, scoring 36 goals and providing 61 assists.

source: news agency

Arsenal suffer 3-1 defeat at rejuvenated Swansea

Arsenal suffered another painful Premier League defeat as Swansea City capitalised on some glaring errors to win 3-1 on Tuesday, boosting their survival hopes and denting the visitors’ top four chances.

Swansea’s Sam Clucas struck either side of Jordan Ayew’s strike to give Swansea the points after Arsenal had taken the lead through full back Nacho Monreal.

The visitors scored after 33 minutes but their advantage lasted just seconds as Mesut Ozil gave the ball away and Clucas equalised for the Welsh side.

Worse was to come for Arsenal in the second half as keeper Petr Cech sliced an attempted clearance, leaving Ayew to fire home after 61 minutes before Clucas finished right-footed to grab his second of the night with four minutes remaining.

“I felt defensively we were very poor and made big mistakes,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. “It’s better not to talk about the second or third goals.”

The defeat leaves Arsenal in sixth place, eight points adrift of Liverpool in fourth after the Merseysiders won 3-0 at Huddersfield Town, and they were left licking their wounds after one win in their last five league games.

They have three wins and six defeats in their 13 league matches on the road this season and have gone five successive away games without a victory in all competitions.

Swansea, however, have been rejuvenated by new manager Carlos Carvalhal and climbed out of the bottom three with the win, moving above Stoke City on goal difference.

Having also beaten visitors Liverpool in the league last week, Swansea have won four and lost one of eight games in all competitions under the Portuguese coach.

“We have a chance (of staying up). We are not in intensive care,” said Carvalhal. “We are not far away from the doctor saying we can go home.”

Arsenal started with new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the bench following his move from Manchester United as part of the deal that took Chile forward Alexis Sanchez in the other direction, but it was not long before they were ahead.

Ozil’s superb ball over the defence found Monreal sliding in at the back post to score his fourth goal of the season.

That lead was wiped out in a flash, however, as Ozil went from hero to villain, giving the ball away under pressure to Alfie Mawson, who slid it through for Clucas to score.

Mkhitaryan came on to make his debut after an hour but moments later the hosts stunned the visitors by taking the lead thanks to another error, this time from Cech.

Arsneal defender Shkodran Mustafi rolled the ball back to the keeper but he made a mess of his clearance, presenting a gift for Ayew to score before Clucas wrapped up the win by firing home after another superb run from Ayew.

source: news agency

Granit puts rock-solid Arsenal into League Cup final

London: Arsenal fought back from a goal down against old foes Chelsea to reach the League Cup final as Granit Xhaka poked home to complete a 2-1 second-leg win on Wednesday that set up a Wembley showdown with Manchester City.

Nothing separated the sides after the semi-final’s first leg at Stamford Bridge ended goalless two weeks ago, but the stalemate was swiftly broken as Chelsea took the lead through Eden Hazard after seven minutes at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has faced perennial questions about his side’s steel in the face of adversity, but these were swept away as they levelled five minutes later through a fortuitous Antonio Rudiger own goal before they turned the match on its head.

Midfielder Xhaka turned predator 15 minutes after halftime to finish from close range and Arsenal stayed rock-solid at the back for the rest of the game to set up an enticing final against Premier League leaders City on Feb. 25.

Arsenal had been under the cosh for much of the first half but they came out after the break a changed side, taking the game to their visitors.

“In the first half we gave Chelsea too much respect and distance. We were a bit scared to go for it,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who has never won the League Cup.

“We were not playing in the right position but we amended that in the second half and took control of the game.”

The sides were meeting for the fifth time this season and it was clear that familiarity had bred a certain degree of contempt as the tackles flew in during a fiercely contested opening.Arsenal had lost only one of their previous seven games against Chelsea, but were quickly under pressure as Hazard put the visitors ahead, calmly stroking the ball past David Ospina after Chelsea carved open the hosts’ backline.

The Emirates was subdued as Chelsea controlled the ball but a fortuitous leveller after 12 minutes brought the home crowd back to life and sparked Arsenal’s revival.

A deep corner was met by Nacho Monreal whose header cannoned off the head of Marcos Alonso before ricocheting of Rudiger to leave Chelsea keeper Willy Caballero stranded.

Chelsea were hit with an injury blow when Willian was forced off with what looked like a hamstring problem after 29 minutes and his departure handed a debut off the bench to Ross Barkley.

That seemed to shift momentum in Arsenal’s favour as the hosts finished the first half on the front foot, with Mesut Ozil seeing an effort deflected just wide, before they grabbed the lead shortly after the break.

Lacazette’s pull back was deflected off Rudiger into the path of Xhaka, who stuck out a leg and poked the ball past Caballero from close range. From that moment on Chelsea barely created a chance as Arsenal stayed resolute at the back and sharp on the counter, with the best opening falling to Alex Iwobi whose effort from 15 metres was saved by the legs of Caballero.

It was Chelsea’s first defeat since Dec. 9, yet they have now failed to win six out of their last seven games, if you discount their penalty shootout win over Norwich in the FA Cup.

Source: News Agency