Arsenal took a big step toward the Europa League final on Thursday night by defeating Valencia 3-1 in the first leg of their semi-final at the Emirates Stadium. The victory puts the Gunners in a strong position ahead of the return leg in Spain.
Despite a difficult start, Unai Emery’s side showed great character. Valencia surprised the home crowd by opening the scoring, but Arsenal reacted positively, gradually taking control of the match and turning the game around with three goals.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sealed the win by scoring Arsenal’s third goal of the night. Speaking to RMC Sport after the match, the Gabonese striker praised his teammates’ reaction after conceding early.
“I think there was a little bit of nervousness given our recent league results. But that’s human, we can make mistakes. We had a bad start, but there was a very good reaction from the whole team and this desire to go for the win,” Aubameyang said.
Arsenal will travel to Valencia next week for the second leg. Despite the two-goal advantage, Aubameyang remains cautious and insists his team must approach the match with ambition.
“We have the qualities required to get a good result there, we simply have to win,” he added.
With this convincing home victory, Arsenal are now close to reaching the Europa League final, but will need a focused performance in Spain to finish the job.
