Ozil artistry saw Arsenal beat CSKA Moscow by 4 goals to 1

A master class from Ozil stunned the Russian side in the first leg of the Quarter-Final clash between the two teams. The artistry of the German was the highlight of the match as we were at the heart of almost all the action that led to goals for the Arsenal side. Arsenal started well in the match and managed to score early in the first half with a goal from Ramsey in the 9th minute. This came 2 minutes after the player put the ball in the net but was correctly ruled offside as Ozil, the man who found him in the box, was just offside before squaring for the Welshman. CSKA Moscow were having none of this as they replied with a beautifully taken free kick from 25 yards out by Golovin in the 15th minute. Game on, it was. About ten minutes later, Ozil found himself in the box and was brought down before he could pull the trigger. The resulting penalty was converted by Lacazette who recently returned from injury. Ozil was at it again when he provided a dinked pass to Ramsey who lifted himself up and flicked past Akinfeev. A 2 goal advantage for Arsenal and the home side were not satisfied. Mesut Ozil got to the byline and pulled the ball back for Lacazette to finish his second of the night from 15 yards out. This meant that Arsenal went into the break with a 4-1 lead. Ramsey found other opportunities to score the third but spared them and one curler hit the far post in a match that was dominated by the Arsenal side. Wenger’s men have started to play beautiful football again. Can they replicate this performance in the away leg and qualify for the next round?

On the same night, Atletico Madrid played against Sporting Lisbon and ran away with a 2-0 win courtesy to goals from Koke and Griezmann.

Lazio won 4-2 against Salzburg with Lulic, Parolo, Anderson and Immobile scoring a goal apiece while Berisha and Minamino scored the two for the away side.

Timo Werner scored the decider for RB Leipzig in their match against Marseille which leaves the clash very open and up for grabs in the return clash.

Battle of the Struggling

The UEFA Europa League clash between Arsenal and AC Milan on Thursday evening represented the battle of two teams that have pretty much been poor over the course of the season so far. AC Milan, much like Arsenal, has been a giant in their country Italy and their fans have a lot of expectations for the club that used to deliver titles when they had players like Seedorf, Pirlo, Maldini and current coach Genaro Gattuso. Gattuso’s team invested in young players like Andre Silva, Hakan Cahlanoglu, Rodriguez, Bonucci among others who were sought after by big clubs in Europe last summer. To the fans’ disappointment, the club has been underperforming regardless of who plays. The same can be said about the Arsenal side that took pride in beating poor AC Milan 2-0 in the San Siro. It was arguably a miracle for the team to turn up against their counterparts whom they lost 4-0 during the days of Robin van Persie. Last night, Mkhitaryan justified his switch to Arsenal with the opening goal less than 15 minutes into the game. Ramsey scored the other right on the stroke of halftime but all credit must go to Mesut Ozil who was bossing the game in midfield as he assisted both goals. This result does not fool the Arsenal faithful though because they face a mountain to climb if they keep progress in this tournament which is their only hope of UEFA Champions League qualification for next season.