Arsenal put the disappointment of their first leg defeat to BATE Borisov behind them, as they coasted to a 3-0 win to reach the UEFA Europa League Round of 16.
The Gunners took little time to reach level terms in the Last 32 tie, although they had BATE midfielder Zakhar Volkov to thank, with the 21-year-old meeting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s low cross and inadvertently turning it into the back of his own net.
Arsenal continued to dominate the proceedings thereafter, and deservedly went ahead in the tie and two goals up in the second leg when Shkodran Mustafi headed in from Mesut Ozil’s corner. The win was then rounded off at the hour mark as Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who had replaced Laurent Koscielny just a few minutes earlier, nodded home his second Arsenal goal.
In the end, it was a comfortable win for Arsenal, who did not break much of a sweat to complete their comeback to record the 3-1 aggregate win. And, the Gooners were in jubilant mood following a very professional display from the hosts.
I don’t care that it is BATE Borisov. We needed this and the team went out and took it. Fair play to Unai, Iwobi, Douzi, Xhaka, Musti, Ozil, Lichty et al. They did the job
— Nate Smith (@nws13) February 21, 2019
The Europa League King Is Back! ??
.
.#ARSBATE #Arsenal pic.twitter.com/iC5h87dYJQ— AZR Organization (@AzrOrganization) February 21, 2019
But, Mesut Ozil was the toast of the Arsenal fans after a comprehensive performance that had the supporters gushing.
Our typical play is Xhaka-Ozil-Iwobi, then Ozil makes a run and takes away a few Bate defenders away from him and there’s space for Iwobi to run into. Take a moment and see how good Mesut is off the ball.
— LTArsenal™️ (@ltarsenal) February 21, 2019
The irony of Ozil almost definitely bailing Emery out from losing his job this evening
— CD14 (@c_d_14) February 21, 2019
Yes, I’m biased. Yes, he’s my favourite player. Yes, tonight’s opposition were far from an elite standard. However, I just find Arsenal so much more enjoyable to watch when Mesut Özil features. It’s really that simple.
— Patrick Timmons (@PatrickTimmons1) February 21, 2019
Every victory tastes better with Mesut ? #YaGunnersYa #COYG pic.twitter.com/z9Umi6cfY3
— Bryce10?? (@bryceSuarez22) February 21, 2019
The only time you bench Mesut Özil is when you’ve to rest him for an important game. No debate. Up the Arsenal.
— Sir Jenkinson (@theEpicGooner) February 21, 2019
based on my calculations:
━━━━━━━━━
┃ Start Ozil ┃
Every Match┃
┃
└━━━━━━━━┘
7 ┃ 8┃ 9┃ / ┃
━┛━┛━. |━ ┛
4 ┃5 ┃6 ┃ +┃
━┛━┛━┛━┛
1 ┃ 2 ┃ 3 ┃ =┃
━┛━┛━┛━┛— P™ (@Cechque) February 21, 2019
Ozil is the soul of the midfield, anytime he plays he brings out the best of Iwobi. I love this man #Arsenal pic.twitter.com/mdMTj9FVIP
— Canadian Tailor ?? ?? (@VivBlessed) February 21, 2019
Ozil to haters be like.. pic.twitter.com/KIoNBnkdrZ
— Alisha Singh (@SwineFlu2019) February 21, 2019
Meanwhile, fans were also concerned about the well-being of Laurent Koscielny, after the Arsenal captain seemed to have picked up another injury.
whenever koscielny reaches for his legs like that my heart drops #ARSBAT
— remz (@r3mzSZN) February 21, 2019
Can people stop hurting Koscielny?
— Kumail (@Kumailh) February 21, 2019
Job Well Done Just Hope Koscielny is ok ? #Arsenal
— Shaheen Ashraf (@topgooner100) February 21, 2019
