[Yomi]

Arsenal put one foot firmly in the quarter-finals of the Europa League with three stunning goals from Martin Odegaard, Gabriel and Mohamed Elneny handing them a 3-1 win over Olympiacos on Thursday.

Mikel Arteta opted to field the same side that drew 1-1 with Burnley in the Premier League with the exception of the back four, where Gabriel Magalhaes and Hector Bellerin came in for Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers.

Just as at Turf Moor, Arsenal started strongly. Not even the lion’s share of possession, the Gunners had all the ball in the early stages with the players, to a man, looking threatening and energised for the clash.

Were it not for a combination of Martin Odegaard assuming the Mesut Ozil mantle of not being able to shoot, Sokratis’ shoulder and a superb save from Jose Sa, they should have had the goal their dominance warranted. It did finally come in the form of a debut strike for Odegaard, who leathered a fierce effort through the hapless Sa.

After half-time Arsenal continued to dictate the play, although Dani Ceballos came on shortly after the break and conspired with Bernd Leno to gift Olympiacos a goal.

Losing their grip at this stage and happy to hold on for a draw, Gabriel produced a divine header to put the advantage in the Gunners’ hands once more.

As if those two excellent strikes weren’t enough, Mohamed Elneny wanted to get in on the act with another long-range beauty to, touch wood, settle the tie.

A 3-1 lead heading into the home leg on Thursday is about as good as it could have got. Here are the talking points.

Self-Inflicted Wounds Show No Signs of Healing

It’s as if Arsenal have their shoulder angel and devil constantly in their ears all match: ‘do something good, you have it in you’, ‘do something really stupid, you know you want to’.

Hoping for such errors to have been eradicated for at least 90 minutes, somehow there managed to be even more than previously with three glaring mistakes. Two went unpunished but there was no luck for the third.

Martin Odegaard wanted to try his best and fit in with the lads by producing a hospital ball in the first half, followed by David Luiz being caught in possession shortly after.

However none were as calamitous – albeit only because it was the only one conceded from – than the Leno and Ceballos episode. Firstly, Leno’s pass is a very risky one. Yes, Arteta is asking him to make these decisions, but common sense must prevail at times. This isn’t like Burnley. Yet, even after the pass, Ceballos’ lack of spacial awareness is frightening, and not for the first time.

Arsenal could easily have lost that game 4-0. They could easily have won that game 4-0. They’re allowing dominance to become a burden, which is remarkable since a lack of control was what was so damning earlier this season.

Mistakes are being temporarily swept under the rug only to crawl their way back out when nobody is looking.

Mikel Arteta Needs to Field More Goalscorers

There is a fine line to draw. One the one hand, the double No. 8/10 options are what Arteta wants in his side as it forges enhanced structure and breeds greater ball retention. With Willian in the side, who had a decent outing on Thursday, Arsenal can sustain a grip on proceedings and keep sides pinned back for longer spells.

Flip that over, and without a Gabriel Martinelli or a Nicolas Pepe, two players who aren’t ready-made wall-pass and half-space occupiers, the goalscoring mantle is left solely on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s shoulders. Bukayo Saka can chip in with goals but is the ‘B’ section of an ‘A, B, C’ move. More adept at laying on the incisive pass than he is being a finisher in the box, Arsenal don’t have players who can secure a numerical advantage on their stranglehold.

The same pattern repeated itself as has been the case throughout the season of early dominance followed by missed chances, sloppiness as nerves kick in and finally a late flurry. In the final third there are not enough individuals to add a clinical touch other than the captain.

All three of Arsenal’s goals on the night were stunning efforts. Three touches of the ball that could easily have trickled into the goalkeeper’s arms or hit Row Z. Had but one have been converted then the issue of cutting edge would have been the major talking point. But regardless, it still needs to be.

No balance has been struck as of yet.

Full-Backs Shine

Both Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney had fine evenings. The latter could be in double figures for assists this season if he had reliable finishers on the end of his many delicious deliveries.

As for Bellerin, two matches worth of rest clearly paid dividends. This writer would’ve preferred Cedric pre-match to account for the Spaniard’s weaknesses in defending transitions, but Arsenal were rarely threatened in that manner and when they were he stood up to the task.

Positional fluidity between Saka and the right-back were key to the early showing. Picking up central positions when the 19-year-old had space to attack out wide and overlapping to account for his movements into the half-space, Bellerin looked more assured in and out of possession than he has done since the turn of the year.

On the opposite flank, a similar scenario played out with Tierney and Willian. Tierney has the best delivery in the side thus his freedom to overlap is greater than Bellerin’s, not least as he had the run on Lala every time.

When the tempo dropped it wasn’t the fault of the full-backs and instead overuse of the ball in other areas, while at the back both made vital interventions at pivotal moments. Bellerin’s clutch block paramount to the win with the scores tied at 1-1 at the time.

A Win is a Win

It’s not all doom and gloom, is it?

Of course, it’s vital to pick apart where Arsenal went wrong on the night and to highlight the point that they were indeed lucky – their xG hovered just over the 1.00 mark – but the side have just left the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium with a 3-1 win.

Not a soul in sight wouldn’t have taken that result before kick-off.

It puts Arsenal in absolute control of their destiny at this stage, knowing a single goal can entirely wrap up progression to the next round and even that isn’t essential. Arteta will not take the opposition lightly and learn from last season’s mistakes, yet even he will be comfortable with the position they’re in.

Being able to use five substitutes also works in the Gunners’ favour as they can ease the strain on many of their players’ legs for the second leg if the tie is appropriately wrapped up at some stage during the Emirates Stadium meeting.

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