Ostersunds 0-3 Arsenal: Advantage Arsenal after dominant Europa League round-of-32 first legBy Jack Wilkinson
Last Updated: 15/02/18 10:24pm
Arsenal took a huge stride towards the last 16 of the Europa League with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Ostersunds at the Jamtkraft Arena. Nacho Monreal's first ever European goal (13) and a Sotirios Papagiannopoulos own goal (24) got the Gunners off to the perfect start before Mesut Ozil (58) wrapped things up with the third after the break. Ostersunds could have grabbed a late consolation but captain David Ospina saved Tom Pettersson's tame stoppage-time penalty to ensure Arsenal hold the advantage ahead of next Thursday's return at the Emirates. With sub-zero conditions and a 4G pitch to contend with in Sweden, Arsenal's ability to adjust to their surroundings was questioned ahead of kick-off, but the Gunners settled immediately on their way to a dominant start.
Ostersunds' last competitive game was in December and it showed against a slick Arsenal attack, who would have taken a 12th-minute lead had Papagiannopoulos not blocked Henrikh Mkhitaryan's goal-bound effort off the line.
But the Arsenal pressure told a minute later as goalkeeper Aly Keita fumbled a tame Alex Iwobi shot into the path of Monreal, who stroked home from six yards.
Mkhitaryan stung Keita's palms with an 18-yard drive on 16 minutes as the Gunners smelt blood, and the Armenian had a hand in their second as his drilled cross cannoned in off Papagiannopoulos.
The two-goal deficit kicked Ostersunds into gear as the bright Saman Ghoddos stung Ospina's palms with a volley on 29 minutes, but there was still time for Danny Welbeck and Mkhitaryan to spurn chances before the break.
Graham Potter made two changes at half-time but Ostersunds were soon three goals down as Mkhitaryan played in Ozil - who was making his first Europa League appearance of the season - and he drilled a shot through Keita's feeble attempted save.
Ghoddos was the one bright spark for Ostersunds and it was the Iran international's pass which led to Hector Bellerin fouling Tesfaldet Tekie in the area, but Ospina denied Petterson's spot-kick to complete a thoroughly professional performance.
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