Arsenal have unlikely heroes to thank after almost hitting self-destruct again

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When Olympiacos striker Youssef El-Arabi stroked the ball home in the 58th minute, you feared this was going to be a case of deja vu for Arsenal.

Just as they did against Burnley, Arsenal had gifted their opponents an equaliser after Bernd Leno’s pass out from the back had put Dani Ceballos under pressure.

Swamped by Olympiacos players, Ceballos lost the ball and El-Arabi was able to bend it past Leno, who was out of position.

Ceballos and Leno will both shoulder the blame for the goal - perhaps the latter more so given hoofing the ball long seemed the sensible option - but either way it allowed Olympiacos back into a match they had only ever looked second-best in.

It was the 14th goal Arsenal have conceded in 2021 and the seventh of those to occur because of their own errors. The Gunners can’t help shooting themselves in the foot right now.

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But, unlike against Burnley on Saturday, Arsenal rallied late on to secure a 3-1 win that puts them within touching distance of the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

They hold a commanding lead going into next week’s second leg at Emirates Stadium and, even with their knack of gifting opponents goals, you’d back them to see this out.

In the end, their two heroes were unlikely ones. In the last round against Benfica it had been talismen Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who had saved the day. This time it was Gabriel Magalhaes and Mohamed Elneny delivering the goods at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.

Both the players’ goals were equally impressive and worthy of winning any game.

Gabriel’s was a bullet header, supplied by a Willian cross that capped off another good performance from the former Chelsea forward.

His ball was there for Gabriel to attack and the defender took full advantage, leaping almost a foot higher than anyone else to power home.

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That had the Arsenal bench off their feet as, with 11 minutes to go, they were 2-1 up.

Six minutes later, Elneny had them up again as the Egyptian - who had only just came on as a substitute - smashed the ball into the bottom corner.

It was a sweet strike and one that should put Arsenal into the quarter-finals.

Odegaard off the mark with a little help from Sa

Long before Arsenal were celebrating Elneny’s goal, they were revelling in Martin Odegaard’s first for the club. The Norwegian has been handed plenty of minutes since joining on loan from Real Madrid in January and he is relishing the opportunity.

Odegaard wasted a great chance inside two minutes here, scuffing the ball wide when Kieran Tierney had picked him out with a cut-back.

About 10 minutes before half-time, though, the attacking midfielder made amends by lashing one into the net.

AFP via Getty Images

It was hit from all of 30 yards and on first glance it looked like a contender for goal of the season. Replays, however, showed Olympiacos goalkeeper Jose Sa made a mess of it, flapping at thin air instead of the ball.

Odegaard won’t care, though. He’s off the mark for Arsenal and will hope many more are to come.

Willian continues revival with bright performance

A few weeks ago it began to look as if Willian had turned a corner at Arsenal and this performance underlined how that is certainly now the case.

The Brazilian looks like the player he was at Chelsea last season and his link-up play with Tierney tonight was a particular highlight.

Before, you felt like Willian was going through the motions, often a passenger in games that passed him by.

Now, though, the forward is grabbing the steering wheel and impacting matches - as shown by his assist for Gabriel’s goal.

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