March 18, (THEWILL) — Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are through to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after a 2-0 home win over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday, completing a 3-1 aggregate victory. The result stretched their unbeaten run across all competitions to 14 matches.
Eberechi Eze put Arsenal ahead in the first half with a fierce right-footed strike from the edge of the area, beating goalkeeper Janis Blaswich with his first-ever goal in the competition. Leandro Trossard had wasted a string of good opportunities before that moment, with Blaswich denying him on multiple occasions.
Declan Rice then doubled the advantage with a measured curling finish from outside the box, sending the ball into the bottom corner to effectively end the contest.
Eze was replaced by Kai Havertz with around 20 minutes remaining after picking up a knock. Havertz had a goal disallowed for a foul, while David Raya produced a fine save to deny Christian Kofane and preserve the clean sheet.
Arsenal will face Sporting in the quarter-finals and turn their attention to the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City on Sunday. Leverkusen must now redirect their focus to domestic competition, meeting Heidenheim on Saturday in their push for UCL qualification next season.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
