Europa League Review: Lacazette is back, Leipzig not at their best and more

Alexandre Lacazette scored twice in his first start for two months, as Arsenal beat CSKA Moscow 4-1. Ramsey also scored a brace, with CSKA unable to track the Welsh midfielder’s late runs into the box.

Ramsey had a goal ruled out for offside early-on, but his side-footed shot went straight into the roof of the net when Hector Bellerin found him with a square ball moments later. The Gunners advantage lasted only six minutes, when Laurent Koscielny’s ridiculous aerial challenge to concede a free-kick was excellently finished by Aleksandr Golorin.

Two goals in five minutes made it comfortable for Arsenal, with Lacazette slotting in a penalty for the second game in a row and Ramsey expertly flicking the ball over the advancing Igor Akinfeev. Georgy Schennikov’s desperate attempt to win the ball completely took Mesut Ozil off his feet, although the referee didn’t look as though he was going to give the decision until the additional assistants behind the goal intervened.

Lacazette netted his second with his left foot after he had initially cushioned Ozil’s cross. Wenger believes that Lacazette had been struggling with his knee in the seven or eight matches before surgery in February, as it has been a difficult first season in London for the French striker.

He was dropped for the matches with Liverpool and Manchester City, although he scored from the bench in the latter. His 10 Premier League goals has been short of the strike rate he illustrated in his last three campaigns at Lyon, whilst his former club haven’t missed him with Mariano Diaz impressing in his debut term and Nabil Fekir increasing his level dramatically.

The Gunners were far from convincing defensively once again, but their movement in the attacking third perplexed an ageing CSKA back three. Goalkeeper Akinfeev and the three Russian centre-backs all played against Arsenal for the club 12 years ago, as they were the first visiting team to keep a clean sheet at the Emirates Stadium.

Tensions have been running high between the UK and Russia in recent weeks, but CSKA’s travelling support acted in an exemplarily manner. They had initially sold 500 away tickets, but unfortunately only around 200 actually made the trip.

Arsenal continued to create in the second half, with the post denying Ramsey his hat-trick. They are the top scorers in this season’s competition, which is bad news for CSKA boss Viktor Goncharenko ahead of the second leg.

Leipzig ride their luck

RB Leipzig take a slender lead to France, as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side failed to capitalise on Marseille’s woes. It was the away team that had the better of the opportunities with Kostas Mitroglou’s delicate touch almost deceiving Peter Gulacsi, but the Hungarian goalkeeper managed to get a firm hand to the ball.

Bouna Sarr’s shot into the ground rebounded up and hit the crossbar just minutes before half-time. Gulacsi was called into action again with a double save in stoppage time at the end of the first 45 minutes, then Leipzig broke away on a counter attack and Timo Werner cut inside Jordan Amavi to finish under goalkeeper Yohann Pele.

Marseille were without their captain and main shot-stopper Steve Mandanda, who picked up an injury against Dijon at the weekend. Their first-choice centre-back partnership of Adil Rami and Rolando were also out along with their star performer Florian Thauvin.

This forced manager Rudi Garcia to use a three-man defence including holding-midfielder Luiz Gustavo and 18-year-old Boubacar Kamara, whose last appearance in the competition against Vitoria de Guimaraes saw him sent-off. Leipzig weren’t at their best, but they are now unbeaten in their last seven matches, which includes encounters with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

Lazio overcome detriment

Lazio beat Benevento 6-2 at the weekend, as the Eagles had it all their own way with Lucas Leiva even scoring for the third consecutive match. However, they had to deal with a certain amount of adversity as they managed to defeat Salzburg 4-2.

Captain Senad Lulic scored the opener, with the Bosnian a surprise selection after he missed the last two Serie A games following his injury in the last round against Dynamo Kyiv. The left-wing back hooked the ball into the net after Ciro Immobile was unable to connect.

Salzburg struck back from the penalty spot through Valon Berisha, who now has seven goals in his last eight appearances in all competitions. Lazio certainly felt aggrieved at the decision and their players were visibly unhappy once again when they were denied a penalty of their own, but Simone Inzaghi’s men didn’t let the injustice affect them as they hit back with Marco Parolo scoring his sixth goal of the season.

Salzburg drew level again when substitute Takumi Minamino struck. However, two goals for Felipe Anderson and Immobile in three minutes put Lazio in control of the tie. It was Immobile’s first real chance and it took his tally to 37 goals.

This was only Salzburg’s second loss in all competitions this term. Marco Rose’s men are still in with a chance of creating more history, as they have kept three consecutive clean sheets on home turf.

Atletico punish sloppy Sporting

It didn’t take long for Atletico Madrid to get going at the Wanda Metropolitano, as they scored their fastest ever goal at the new ground. Former Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates’ poor pass was intercepted by Diego Costa and the forward slipped in Koke to give Atleti the lead inside 23 seconds.

The centre-back had just returned from a one-match ban in the tournament and was a doubt before the game due to injury. It wasn’t the only risk that backfired for coach Jorge Jesus, with William Carvalho removed just before the break after he overcame a late fitness test to start.

Gelson Martins and Bas Dost offered the away side some inspiration, but a mistake from the other centre-half Jeremy Mathieu allowed Antoine Griezmann to make it 2-0. The French striker missed the win over Deportivo La Coruna through suspension and looked lively throughout, as Atletico will be pleased with their nights work.