SAN FRANCISCO, April 27, (THEWILL) – Arsenal’s hopes of sending outgoing manager Arsene Wenger off with a trophy suffered a major blow as they could only draw 1-1 with 10-man Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.
The Gunners played with an extra man for over 80 minutes at the Emirates Stadium, with Sime Vrsaljko’s early red card handing them the initiative.
However, they were made to rue a host of missed chances before and after Alexandre Lacazette headed them in front on the hour mark.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone was also sent to the stands shortly after Vrsaljko’s dismissal, but the Spaniards resisted manfully and pounced when their chance came as Antoine Griezmann prodded home a vital away goal eight minutes from time.
Arsenal now need to become the first away team to score in 12 matches at Atletico’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium next week if Wenger’s last game in charge is to be the final in his homeland in Lyon on May 16.
Moreover, Arsenal’s hopes of Champions League football next season also hang on becoming the first side other than Real Madrid to eliminate Atletico from Europe for five seasons.
In France, Florian Thauvin and substitute Clinton Njie netted to give Marseille a 2-0 win over Salzburg in their Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday, keeping the French club’s dreams of European glory alive.
Dimitri Payet set up both goals for OM at a packed Velodrome, as more than 62,000 fans saw Thauvin grab an opener that had more than a suspicion of handball about it.
Cameroon international Njie then made it 2-0 less than three minutes after coming off the bench in the second half, to leave Marseille firmly in control of the tie ahead of next week’s return in Austria.
Marseille are desperate to reach a Europa League final that will be played in France, at the home of their bitter rivals Lyon, on May 16.
They are aiming to win a second European trophy, a quarter of a century after their triumph in the inaugural Champions League final in 1993.
