Atletico beat Arsenal, enter Europa League final

Atletico have a slight advantage after the first leg with a 1-1 draw at the Emirates, despite having to play with 10 men early on. Having not conceded a goal at home in the Europa League this season, coach Diego Simeone's team is confident of knocking Arsenal out of the semi-finals.

The return of assassin Costa brightened the home team's hopes of finding a goal, even though Simeone had to watch the match from the stands.

The highlight of the first 45 minutes was the injury in the seventh minute of Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny. The French midfielder twisted his leg without colliding with anyone, in a situation where Atletico had the ball on a counter-attack.

Instead of taking advantage of Koscielny's pain to rush forward, Costa stopped and asked his teammate to kick the ball out so the doctor could quickly enter the field.

The Spanish striker's actions were applauded by fans of both teams. Meanwhile, Koscielny was really devastated after falling down, as he kept punching the grass in pain.

Applause was also reserved for the 32-year-old centre-back, who left the pitch in tears. He has battled Achilles tendonitis for years, and is set to miss the 2018 World Cup.

Koscielny's horrific injury made both teams more cautious. By the end of the first half, the home team stepped up their attacks. In the 37th minute, Koke volleyed wide of the post, a few minutes before Griezmann made a 180-degree turn to shake Ospina's goal.

It seemed like the scoreboard would not change until the end of the first half, Costa shone with a situation where he broke through and scored a goal in a one-on-one situation. The first credit went to Antoine Griezmann with a pass that was just long enough to create a pass, when Hector Bellerin was already high up and could not fall back to cover.

Costa's fourth goal in seven games against Arsenal saw the Wanda Metropolitano side go into the break with a 1-0 lead, and they settled into their signature defensive counter-attacking style of play early in the second half.

Arsenal tried every way to penetrate the home team's defense, but could not find any dangerous opportunities. Captain Diego Godin and his teammates played focused and kept their formation. The Uruguayan player created up to four timely clearances, saving his team's goal from being in disarray.

Arsenal's only chance of the second half came from Granit Xhaka's low shot from 20 yards, but goalkeeper Jan Oblak dived in time.

Coach Arsene Wenger had to send Henrikh Mkhitaryan onto the field in the 69th minute, but the midfielder who won the Europa League in 2017 with Man Utd only left one highlight with a shot that skimmed the roof of the net.

On the other side of the field, the Costa - Griezmann duo had many sharp counter-attacks, but could not increase the gap. Coach Diego Simeone had to hold his head in regret in the stands, when Griezmann's shot from a favorable position in the 5m50 box failed to score. The appearance of Fernando Torres, replacing Costa due to injury, also did not move the scoreboard.

In contrast to Simeone's restlessness in the stands, the Wanda Metropolitano crowd continued to cheer and sing for the last 20 minutes of the match. On the pitch, Atletico did not disappoint their fans when they maintained the score until the final whistle. That was also when the away team's players collapsed on the field.

On the pitch, Wenger shook hands with Atletico's assistant, then headed into the tunnel. This was Wenger's 216th European Cup match as Arsenal manager, and his last.

In the other semi-final, Marseille beat RB Salzburg 3-2 on aggregate. The 2018 Europa League final will take place at 1:45 a.m. on May 17 (Hanoi time), at Lyon Stadium.

Xuan Binh