Arsenal completed a comeback against Rapid Vienna through David Luiz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who both scored within four minutes of each other to seal Arsenal’s win in their Europa League opener.
Vienna got an easy gift from the Arsenal goalie to go up six minutes after the break when Ercan Kara blocked Bernd Leno’s attempted clearance, then setting up Taxiarchis Fountas to embarrass the Arsenal goalkeeper and slot into an empty net.
Arsenal had not offered much and hardly tested Richard Strebinger until that point, but they found a way through with 20 minutes to go, as David Luiz headed in Nicolas Pepe’s free-kick to draw the gunners level.
The visitors completed the turnaround within four minutes as Hector Bellerin crossed to fellow substitute Aubameyang, who did the easy job of tapping home into an empty net to secure maximum points for Arsenal in their first Group B game.
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Arsenal fans were delighted to see their new man in action, and after, it was pure bliss seeing Thomas Partey’s name on a Gunners team-sheet for the first time ahead of their 2-1 win over Rapid Vienna.
Partey, however, got an early yellow card – his second in an Arsenal shirt – but he managed to control the game from the off and never let up, while also showing what he can do with the ball with an impressive range of passing.
His performance was summed up by one brief moment of first-half brilliance, tackling Daniel Grahovac before then chasing down Dejan Ljubicic to take the loose ball off him too.
He never stopped running and played with immense discipline, which earned him the manager’s praise after the game as Arteta labelled his performance as “fantastic“.
Many had already compared him to Arsenal’s legend Patrick Vieira, who 15 years on has still not been replaced in North London.
It is far too soon to be drawing conclusions about similarities between the two, but keep this level of performance up against Premier League opposition and Arsenal may have finally found Vieira’s replacement.
Tottenham 3-0 Linz ASK: Spurs cruise to opening Europa League victory
Tottenham over the years has been accused of having a lightweight and fragile squad and that they basically lacked the depth.
They have a team capable of taking on the very best in Europe when the starting XI is fit, but if you scratch beneath the surface when injuries or fatigue take their toll, the lack of strength in depth has often proved to be their undoing.
They seem to have gone past that now as Jose Mourinho’s summer recruitment drive has brought quality and cover throughout his squad, and it looks to get getting stronger with each game.
Mourinho rested star duo Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son whilst also making eight pre-match changes for the visit LASK, but quality still remained in the squad as summer arrivals Gareth Bale and Carlos Vinicius made their full Spurs debuts.
It resulted in a 3-0 opening-night Europa League victory, as Mourinho’s bid for a third triumph in the competition started in a comprehensive fashion.
If Mourinho is to guide Spurs to this piece of silverware – their first since 2008 – just as he did with Porto and Manchester United, the squad he has assembled could prove crucial.
Other Europa League results (Matchday 1)
Thursday 22nd October Full results
- BSC Young Boys Bern 1-2 Roma
- Bayer Leverkusen 6-2 Nice
- CSKA Sofia 0-2 CFR Cluj-Napoca
- Dundalk 1-2 Molde
- Hapoel Beer-Sheva 3-1 Slavia Prague
- Lech Poznan 2-4 Benfica
- Napoli 0-1 AZ Alkmaar
- PAOK Salonika 1-1 Omonia Nicosia
- PSV Eindhoven 1-2 Granada
- Rapid Wien 1-2 Arsenal
- Rijeka 0-1 Real Sociedad
- Standard Liege 0-2 Rangers
- Braga 3-0 AEK Athens
- Celtic 1-3 AC Milan
- Dinamo Zagreb 0-0 Feyenoord
- Hoffenheim 2-0 Crvena Zvezda
- Leicester City 3-0 FC Zorya Luhansk
- Ludogorets 1-2 Antwerp
- Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-0 Qarabag FK
- RZ Pellets WAC 1-1 CSKA Moscow
- Slovan Liberec 1-0 AA Gent
- Sparta Prague 1-4 Lille
- Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Linz ASK
- Villarreal 5-3 Sivasspor
Partey after Partey