Arsenal beat Napoli, gain advantage before Europa League quarter-final second leg

Arsenal's victory was decided in the first half. Aaron Ramsey took advantage of a pass from Ainsley Maitland-Niles to open the scoring in the 14th minute. The lead was doubled for the Emirates team 11 minutes later when Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly accidentally put the ball into his own net when he rushed in to block Lucas Torreira's shot.

But the 2-0 scoreline did not reflect the game on the pitch, where Arsenal created a number of scoring opportunities. The gap could have been much larger for the English side, had Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret not had a stellar evening.

Ramsey opened the scoring. Photo: Bongdaplus

Post-match statistics showed that Arsenal were slightly behind in terms of ball possession, with only 42%. However, Unai Emery's students outperformed their opponents in finishing, with a total of 16 shots, nine of which were on target for Napoli. The Italian club's figures were only nine and two, respectively.

Arsenal started the game with confidence, and were rewarded with two goals in the first 25 minutes. The opening goal came from a well-coordinated move on Napoli's half. The ball passed through Ozil and Lacazette before Maitland-Niles twisted and put Ramsey in a good position to finish from about seven metres away.

Torreira then played a big part in Arsenal's second goal. The former Sampdoria midfielder stole the ball from Fabian Ruiz, deftly handled the Napoli player and fired home from 20 yards. In an attempt to block the shot, Koulibaly allowed the ball to hit his foot and veer into the net, as Alex Meret dived in the path of Torreira's shot.

Despite not having much of the ball, Arsenal were far more dangerous than Napoli when it came to attacking. The home side had five more chances to score in the first half, but goalkeeper Meret twice denied Ramsey's dangerous shots, and thrice frustrated Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Arsenal are unlikely to finish in the Premier League's top four at the end of the season, so they are determined to play in the Europa League, where winning the title will earn them a place in next season's Champions League. After the break, Arsenal still tried to find at least one more goal to create a big gap before the second leg, but failed. Maitland-Niles beat Meret, but the ball hit the crossbar after hitting the Napoli goalkeeper's hand. Ramsey finished over the bar from 12 meters.

Napoli had just two scoring chances in this match, but failed to capitalize on either. Koulibaly's header and a long-range shot from substitute Adam Ounas were both blocked by goalkeeper Petr Cech. Carlo Ancelotti's team will wait for revenge against Arsenal in the return leg, next Thursday, April 18.

Line-up:

Arsenal(3-4-1-2): Cech; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Torreira (Elneny 77), Ramsey, Kolasinac; Ozil (Mkhitaryan 67); Aubameyang, Lacazette (Iwobi 67)

Unused Subs: Leno, Mustafi, Suarez, Guendouzi

Napoli(4-4-2): Meret; Hysaj, Maksimovic, Koulibaly, Rui; Callejon, Fabian (Ounas 83), Allan, Zielinski; Mertens (Milik 66), Insigne (Younes 83)

Unused Subs: Ospina, Malcuit, Chiriches, Ghoulam

Yellow card: Hysaj

Referee: Alberto Mallenco (Spain)