Sports
Good Advantage: Strikers Fire Arsenal To First Leg Lead
Arsenal strikers Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made the difference for the Gunners in their first leg meeting with Spanish club Valencia.
Both players were on target as Arsenal came from a goal down to beat their Spanish opponents 3-1 in the first leg of their semifinal tie in the Europa League.
Valencia took a shocking lead through Moukthar Diakhaby in the 11th minute but the Gunners reacted positively to that setback through the brilliant Alexandre Lacazette.
The Arsenal front three of Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette combined together to level proceedings for the hosts as Aubameyang teed up his strike partner for his 17th goal of the season in all competitions.
Arsenal were behind for just seven minutes and it took the Gunners just eight more minutes to take the lead for the first time in the game though the aforementioned Lacazette.
The French international finished off a cross from Granit Xhaka to give the Gunners a 2-1 despite the best efforts of Valencia goalkeeper Neto.
Aubameyang added a late third goal for Arsenal to take the tie closer to the Gunners ahead of their second leg meeting billed for the Mestalla on Thursday.
For now, the Gunners are edging closer to the 2019 Europa League final in Baku, Azerbaijan.
