Arsenal put themselves on the brink of a European exit, but a late Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang winner secured our place in the last 16.
The Gunners took the lead through the captain after a superb, incisive pass from Bukayo Saka. Benfica equalised with a brilliant free kick just before half-time, before a Dani Ceballos mistake handed them the lead.
It meant two goals were needed, and Kieran Tierney duly obliged with a cracking equaliser, before Auba’s late header got Mikel Arteta’s men out of jail.
Read the Arsenal 3-2 Benfica match report and see the goals here
Arsenal 3-2 Benfica – Player Ratings
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Should have been a much easier one but man what a well deserved comeback this was.
And this match might have given me the closest thing to a heart attack. Not exactly the healthiest thing to be an Arsenal fan nowadays.
Also can you imagine how Arsenal it would have been to exit EL because of the away goal rule while playing at neutral venues?
It would have been the most Arsenal thing ever!! Fortunately we’re through
I said after the first leg we got out-coached. We got outcoached again. Luckily we clearly out abilitied them. Arteta is riding his luck right now.
Explain how we got outcoached?
Their manager ‘coached’ them to get a lucky penalty by crossing into our player’s arm, to score a worldie of a free kick and to get our midfielder to head the ball straight to their striker?
Not many will see this post but i did bud. Have given you an upvote
Let it not be forgotten that whilst most of our compatriots got to play their home leg at their own grounds we have had to travel to Greece FFS to play a home game and play out the charade that home advantage should mean that away goals count for more. What utter bollocks. Leicester have just played at home and we now face a game up there having travelled back from Athens. Let’s hope for a kinder draw tomorrow…..
Leicester lost, so not a good example to have used for home game advantage. We’ll probably get Shaktar next!
Hindsight is a wonderful thing…. The amount of travelling we’ve had to do over 2 legs is not helpful
ESR > Odegaard.
no. today odegaard was better.
Yeah sure a tiny little bit as he was played in his real position unluke ESR, who is yet to vopy his performances on the left.
But i think ESR should start ahead of Odegaard as he suits our play and our players especially Saka much more. The norvegian didnt do anything the ehole game bar that pass to an offside striker, but to steal the spaces Saka would have moved into
I thought Odegaard was a key player today, very strong match. (If you forget their two goals–which had nothing to do with him–it’s a bit clearer.)
They’re both promising young talents. Each will have days/nights where they are better than the other one. Who cares.
Very much agree that the bond and link up that ESR and Saka share is lost when ESR is out on the left. I wonder if there’s a way it could work with ESR in the middle and odegaard out wide?
A couple of things. Firstly, you’d think ESR is the future at # 10 with Odegaard likely expensive to sign so why not play ESR centrally. Secondly, if Odegaard is playing centrally, why not play Pepe on the left given his recent form on that side and the fact that ESR probably needs a rest
So you’ll happily slate a player who only met his team mates a month ago, having never played in the PL – by comparing him to a kid who’s dyed-in-the wool Arsenal, having been breast-fed on club, culture and tactics, who’s studied chapter and verse on all his team-mates for years??! Come on mate… a dose of healthy perspective would be helpful here: Odegaard oozes quality – that lightning double-tap foot-to-foot when caught in our own half… the stubbed-toe way he has of placing a through-ball with backspin to ensure it lands just where it should… the two-footedness that ensures… Read more »
I didnt slate anybody… just pointed out why I think ESR should start ahead of him, which is mostly down to the players style not his ability, how he fits the system or not.
btw i dont understand why everyone is thinking of Ødegaard as a long term player for arsenal when he is not yet. (Sure we dont know whats happening in the background)
QUOTE: ‘he norvegian didnt do anything the ehole game bar that pass to an offside striker, but to steal the spaces Saka would have moved into’ So stating that he did nothing the entire match… except a useless pass and stealing the space from our most dangerous player is not slating him?| C’mon mate – skip the disingenuity and at least own your comment? My point is simply that it’s too easy to lurch into overly-emotive, sweeping statements behind the veil of social media… I felt you were way too harsh on a talented player who WILL (mark my words)… Read more »
Comparison is the thief of joy. They’re both good young gunners so enjoy the win
100 likes for this
Exactly, we’ve gone from complaining about a lack of playmakers to complaining about too many. I’m just happy Arteta is trying to get technical players into the side.
We need them both!
Maybe only one is ours in the long term. If we bought Odegaard, then I’m fine.
ESR is slightly overrated bro, he’ll come good eventually but he needs time he’s still needs to learn to be consistent like Saka. U23 you can have 2,3 good games and go off the boil and it will be fine. at this level you have to have 10 15 20 good games consistently. I think he’ll learn that going forward but he wasn’t great tonight. Odegaard was better only slightly
No one plays one touch better than ESR in our team, he goes missing in ratings cos some ppl just think he’s not in the game when infact he’s making us a lot quicker in transition, open your eyes blogs.
Sounds like the review of a certain Mr Ozil.
Couldn’t agree more. Have lost the fast transition from midfield to attack since ESR shifted left. Instead we have fancy footwork and little incision. Another error of judgement by Arteta. Doesn’t matter what he sees in training. It’s what we can all see on the pitch that is clear. Odegaard should not be in our best starting XI. ESR should continue at 10. And where areMartinelli and Pepe. Arteta just cannot manage players properly. You don’t drop (Pepe) or shift (ESR) players hitting form.
Stupid unnecessary and irrelevant comparison
amen, feel bad for folks who think this is an interesting conversation.
anyone else afraid odegaard isn’t the real deal? i don’t see him getting many assists or goal. he reminds me of ozil when he was neither at his best nor worst.
maybe it’s more about the rest of the team thab about odegaard but i feel we’d need a more explosive, productive no 10 – and less of a creative subtle provider
i like odegaard but i’m not sure he’s exactly what this team currently needs
Another real madrid cast off who isnt all that good
Headed the same way as ceballos a one way ticket back to madrid
You will live to eat those words… mark mine!
Odegaard is more Hleb than Ozil, I think. When Odegaard plays ESR is pushed out of his best position. Odegaard combines badly with Saka and gets in his and Bellerin’s spaces. Playing him as we currently do negatively effects 3 players. I’d rather we used Odegaard as a replacement for ESR not in conjunction with him. I thought ESR was magnificent defensively. He stopped or slowed down several Benfica breaks by sprinting into the left back position taking away the progressive pass. He’s making lemonade out of lemons. By the way, did Saka’s cross remind you of the Mahrez cross… Read more »
He reminds a bit of Ozil, though he’s better defensively yet less mobile offensively. Saying that it might just be the case that he’s playing within himself a bit while he adapts to a new team. He was unlucky not to get a fantastic assist today too.
I watched him a lot at Real Sociedad and he’s amazing when settled in. Definitely a productive no 10. I think he’s just getting used to his teammates and the tempo of the game. Sadly if he goes back to Madrid he won’t have a lot of time to show his quality with us
We need a ramsey, esr will come good with goals, not the same sort of player but can finish extremely well, his right footed finesse goals in the u23s were a large part of his hype, fks sublime also, just waiting for him to bring that to his senior game, it’ll come, he’s got beckhamesque abilty with that right foot
See my comment above – he only met his team-mates a month ago ffs!! The great Thierry took more than a DOZEN games before making any impact whatsoever, so you’d no doubt have called for his head as well?
He shows every hallmark of being pure quality and just needs to settle into our patterns and build the understanding with our strikers – which, given his intelligence and quality, he most certainly will.
Your comment lacks patience, perspective and insight.
Good call Goon. The great DB was being coated by fans n press until those 2 beauties v saint’s and RP7 took half a season to settle and he didn’t turn out too bad
ESR shoul’ve jumped during that free kick…
Nope – it was Xhaka once again: watch the replay. He’s done this before – a half-hearted attempt to block…he was just millimeters from glancing that fk off his forehead and safely over the bar, but his jump was tame… not even 8 inches off the ground!
Did you see Ødegaard’s reaction to the winning goal? Threw himself down and kissed the turf!
Love Odegaard, his effortless little touches and turns is very Cesc-esque. Great vision too.
Having said that, ESR is much more dynamic as a 10. He’s everywhere and makes the team tick, whereas MO drifts too much to the right and blocks Saka’s freedom in a sense.
yeah I feel the same way. I’m thinking its more to do with there understanding of each other having only played in 3 or so games together. I really liked the way ESR and Saka combined when ESR was in the 10. There was so much fluidity and interchange about their movement that was special.
Both great players but I don’t understand the rationale of shunting a player in great form out of position to accommodate a loanee who’s going to be tough to keep.
I think we should rotate them, and put pepe on the left. Aubamayeng, backed by pepe, ESR/Odegaard, Saka is a good front for me!
I think you’re spot on mate. Imo, Odegaard did nothing tonight. 6.5 rating? No chance. And he did nothing against City either. Why play him alongside ESR? Means we have to shift ESR out of his best position to accommodate odegaard plus Pepe, who was coming onto some form, has to then sit on the bench. Pepe-ESR-Saka with Auba up front is what works best. With Laca rotating with Auba.
Different types of players and I don’t see a reason they can’t play together. Smith-Rowe’s qualities suit that wide midfielder role more than Odegaards, that’s all.
Xhaka played much better than both of them, some solid defensive interventions and definitely passed forward more than both Odegaard and ESR. Odegaard was sloppy and ESR just didn’t get involved in the attack, a bit harsh on Xhaka to rate him lower than both them.
ESR,Odegaard > Willian
Never in doubt.
I knew we’d do ’em once we got them back to our place.
So happy, gonna give Willian a seven point five.
We’ve all given Auba a hard time but he stepped up tonight when it mattered. Top man, I’m so happy for him. His celebration nearly brought a tear to my eye for the winner, you could see how much it meant
stop
We haven’t all given Auba a hard time.
only dickheads like you have given auba a hard time most of us have been right behind him
I think tonight we saw his goals aren’t going to come from his pace anymore, all about him making the rights runs and being in the right place.
SAKA IS A LEGEND
Even other fans have started admitting it now as well
10/10 winning games at all! Makes a pleasant change!
Joking aside, hot damn Saka and Tierney are such TALENTS!
Tierney is just captain material. Saka is just incredible
can his fighting spirit be instilled to others?
Look, there are definitely positives about this team – Auba, Tierney, Odegaard,ESR…we just shoot ourselves into the foot. What the hell was Ceballos doing – maybe thinking about playing for Real or something …I’m not convinced about him after this. Thank god for Saka, what a talent and he stands out in every game.
Ceballos was a disaster throughout the game…too slow and too reactive
I actually thought he wasn’t too bad until the disastrous header. Played some nice balls and made a few clutch recoveries. Even the FK he conceded was unlucky, the Benfica guy stepped on his foot (but still clumsy). All that said, I think he’s pretty average overall and would not sign him permanently. He got that wayward shot from 20 or so yards and he turned away as soon as he hit it. He strikes me as a Europa League player, which is where we are, but hopefully we’re aiming higher.
Yeah, thank God. Saka really bailed him out
Pheeeew. Thank god Auba is scoring again. A bit worrying to see us reverting back to the ‘pass the ball in a half moon with no penetration’ football again. But a win is a win. Saka already POTS by a mile.
Not a good partnership between Gabriel and Luiz and it needs to change. Ceballos and Odegard should have come off in the HT break
Arteta is not strong with subs, definitely needs to work on this
Partey looked to move gingerly, I hope we didn’t rush him back again as it was a ‘final’
So happy with the win at full time at the same time infuriated at Arteta. Oooh to be a Gooner
PS Bukayooooooo
Why exactly? He set the team up in a way that we created many goalscoring opportunities, only for the striker to have an off game in the first fixture and therefore not being able to kill of the game.
The goals we conceded were an unfortunate penalty, world class free kick and a result of a massive individual mistake.
The subs mostly worked tonight, Partey was solid and Willian had an assist (yes, I’d say it’s negligent to bring him on based on his atrocious record, but it actually worked tonight).
What massively different could he do?
The Willian sub in was a contributing factor, he got the assist, but the goal was all KT. While Willian wasn’t bad per se, he didnt add anything to the chase for the win Partey sub was bang on though, needed him definitely Bringing Laca for Bellerin was strange, leaving the tiring Saka with the whole of the right flank, luckily the youngster is good enough to deliver but that was risky and Laca didnt really add nothing. I have this weird suspicion Arteta would sub in Martinelli or Pepe at 90 minute mark to chase victory when it was… Read more »
Arteta’s subs were spot on. One provides an assist for the equaliser and moving Saka to RB provided the assist for the winner.
He could make more use of Laca & Pepe for a start, rather than wear out Auba, Saka & ESR
I think the hype around ESR should be measured. He’s an exciting talent but he’s no where near SAKA’s level of consistency even though he’s actually older. He looked out of it today and also very leggy. I blame Arteta for over using him and not rotating with Martinelli. Also I think Odegaard and Auba need to spend more time in training they don’t quite understand each otter yet. Ceballos before his mistake he was actually decent but that was just a silly mistake to give away let’s not crucify him for it. SAKA BADLYneeds a rest. I’m not convinced… Read more »
let’s not crucify????? I wonder if you would say the same thing if we went out. He was a last player defending deep from a corner. He saw the player coming and completely pooped his back pass….why a back pass (with a head nonetheless) in the first place from that distance!!! Ridiculous decision making!!!!
What have you seen that makes you think Saka badly needs a rest?
He’s got physios, coaches and a manager assessing him daily.
He will get one when they seem fit.
There is no sign he is as brittle as Wilshere.
Sorry got to disagree with 10/10 for winning games late . I prefer winning games in first 20 minutes, preferably being 5 nil up.
AHH it’s great to feel again though. The tense excitement is the most fun you can have watching football. When they hit the post I literally almost shat myself
Haven’t felt like that since Chelsea last year.
my heart feels the same 🙂
My wife asked me after the 2015 Cup Final if I preferred to win in that more comfortable 4-0 fashion or in a tense match like the prior year’s 3-2 extra time win against Hull. Honestly I prefer the more exciting roller coaster one, and while my dogs are still a bit shaken (we were a bit animated today) we are all happy with the result, which none of us can complain about and which all of us would have taken 3 hours ago.
We’re back to mid Nineties pre-Wenger standard. It’s all a cycle. Between 92-96 we were pretty average. We’ll come back
I bloody hope it ain’t a cycle I don’t want mid 70s again
Oh they’re comin’ baby. Buckle up
For as long as Kroenkes own the club it won’t be a cycle, it will be a replica of Newcastle. Buckle up is right, on this track well be in the championship in 3-4 years. That’s what happens when an owner doesn’t give two fucks about the company they own.
Ah yes. Those lovely Harold Wilson years…
Can’t remember him. what position did he play
Plays on loan at Cardiff
Centre-left wing
New contracts for Tierney and Saka please! Also thought Gabriel was better than his rating suggests. But man we made that difficult for ourselves, our passing was painfully slow throughout and it looks like we’ve totally forgotten how to counter attack. Not sure how much that’s down to a cautious management approach or the players themselves.
I’d be happy with 10-year contract extensions for both.
Why are you called Real Madrid?
Why have I been down voted for asking a reasonable question?
Maybe because I’m Zidane in disguise and I’m looking to poach Arsenal’s best players! Or perhaps it’s because I changed my name for an earlier joke and forgot to change it back. Clearly, it will be a mystery for the ages….
Thought Partey was excellent when he came on, good to have his experience when we were up against it.
There were a couple of moments when I thought “what are you doing? you’re going to lose the ball doing that.” Nope, no problem. He is very good, is confident about how good he is, knows he can make his teammates better. Stay fit, Thomas.
i find it fascinating, that Elneny and Chambers have different user-ratings.
Sad to see that when we’re a goal down with half an hour left Mikel trusts Willian over Martinelli and Pepe.
he did get an important assist….but I was pissed as hell when I saw him coming on…i was expecting Martinelli….very direct and relentless!!!!
I guess it sort of worked out. We will see a lot more of Martinelli coming up I hope
Martin Keown: well we can call it an assist, but Tierney did all the work
There’s no need to rush Martinelli.
Sad to see that when we’re a goal down with half an hour left Mikel trusts Willian over Martinelli and Pepe.
I still maintain that he must have a minimum appearances clause in his contract.
I sometimes feel that too and Arteta is just getting them all out of the way as early as he can
Pepe was punished and dropped when we he was deemed to be playing poorly. Now he’s being punished and dropped when he was playing well. Makes no sense
Hard to argue with that.
He got an assist and played fine.
So are you saying he should be the first option off of the bench? You and I know he absolutely shouldn’t.
I doubted the sub but he got an assist within a few minutes and didn’t put a foot out of line the rest of the game.
We’re not the manager. We don’t see the training sessions. We don’t always know what’s best.
Man City brought Foden in slowly and have reaped the rewards this season.
Therein lies the rub Dave – ‘didn’t put a foot wrong’… perhaps, but what did he actually add other than that early pull-back (which my Nan could have done)?
Did you not notice that his nett effect was to clog up Tierney’s channel down their right? Immediately after he came on, Tierney’s marauding runs into that corner completely stopped as Willian was always there, not moving into space to combine with him, nor acting as pivot to spring him forward with a one-two…
Saka arsenals best player of the season easy. I don’t even know who would be considered 2nd it’s not even close to first
Tierney is second.
saka would be 2nd as well.
Tierney! And then ESR and Leno
Stick that Jamie Deadcrap, Auba has still got his Super Power 😀
ESR needs to get his central place back. He is less effective wide and Odegaard is fine when he drifts out.
Absolutely. Bench Odegaard. Pepe on left. Saka on right. ESR in the middle.
Arseblog cautioned this morning that our biggest opponent is ourselves and it turned out exactly like that. Their 3 goals across the 2-leg round, all came from mistakes. Just one game without someone screwing up will be fantastic. Average performance but great win. Let’s see whose next
Willian was OK tonight. He is a huge disappointment and it was still a big mistake to sign him and I slate him every game because he deserves it, but tonight he was OK.
Ok on £200k a week is not good enough
How can anyone (who isn’t also on 200k per week) downvote this???
Auba has made up for his misses in the first leg.
What a difference Partey made when he came on.
Willian played well; kudos to him.
Over to Leicester on Sunday! There is no peace for the wicked says the Lord!
Thought we played to slow and deep in the 1st half, midfield was getting nowhere near a press, bellerin played like he was hungover, Luiz was basically walking, seems a problem getting this team fired up, not tierney.
Bellerin is the player with huge talent and is physically gifted but just can’t figure out when to take a risk and when not.
Generally his decision making is sooo poor at times.
Glad that Auba scored at the end. I was beginning to think he can’t be bothered at times during that match when he didn’t want to come back onside after wandering off.
Happy for the boys – well deserved but please we need to move the ball a bit quicker. Saka and Tierney saved Arteta yet again.
I think maybe someone should give Arteta a ring and hear from him at how he may be asking Luiz to create a calming influence on the field and slow it down when needed. I’ve heard this complaint from people all over the internet, so I watched today looking for signs and sure enough, you can see through his body language that his slowing things down on purpose is a directive from the coach. I get how he’s a polarizing player, but it’s very evident that people wear there Luiz hate on the same sleeve as their Ozil hate was… Read more »
When you say Ødegaard “worked really hard” did you mean “ran around a lot” ?
Because he was useless on the ball, showing for the ball for MOST of the match. You’re seeing something I can’t or won’t or isn’t there. Not sure which one.
Plays the ball directly back to whoever passes it to him, like Elneny but playing slightly further forward
Agree. Thought he was shit tonight.
‘Won’t’… it’s definitely ‘won’t’. Maybe open both eyes…
Shouldn’t really be banging on about Willian on a night we got ourselves out of jail but:
That steal by auba/saka in the oppos box. And Willian walking around at the far end not even attempting to sprint for a potential tap in. Wtf was that?! I was yelling at the TV!
Odegaard underrated again.
The guy is getting ignored because he’s not making headlines, but his passes and play are crucial to our game. Looked bright tonight, which is promising considering he’s probably not 100% settled yet.
Dude, what game were you watching?! Didn’t even realize he was still on the pitch at times…did zero and had zero impact.
Back at you… his class is already showing, despite the fact he only met the guys he’s playing with a month ago. Time… like Le Tissier, Gazza, Santi etc – he always seems to have plenty of it. You clearly missed the masterful double-tap, foot-to-foot he used to get out of trouble in our half when Xhaka sold him a ‘hospital’ pass? And the many through balls he attempted – not all succeeded but at least he (a) sees those gaps and (b) tries to find the killer ball, unlike the ‘pass it back to safety’ mentality that has plagued… Read more »
Got a fright going down the list of player ratings; the aviators for Tierney and Ceballos look like Özil and Mustafi 😳
Didn’t really rate Odergaard today. He plays like Ceballos but farther up the pitch.
* Receive the ball
* Pass back immediately
~or~
* Dribble in a circle looking for something open
* Then pass back
Drove me nuts the counter attack opportunity we had that he just did a 360 dribble on the ball instead of releasing ESR or Saka in the channel.
I enjoy watching saka as much as I used to enjoy Bergkamp and Pires,I can’t compliment him higher than that….
Huge new long contract for the hale end arsenal boy please…
Roll 1 out for Tierney while ye are at it please
The ratings are really buggy on iOS, it doesn’t load properly and when it does, it freezes. Could be my phone but it’s been like that for ages. Makes scrolling down to comment a task as I have to constantly refresh the page.
A very strange game of football, we looked in control and almost too calm/slow on the ball, I think reasoning could have been to preserve energy for Leicester. Also, I think that in Parteys absence Arteta opts for ESR on the left +Odegard Centre in order to have more control on the ball, also this compensates for Aubas faults at hold up /inter play. But maybe with Pepe on the left we would ve been more direct? And we could have rested ESR or Odegard. Then Cebalos fauls and some bloke scores from FK like he is Platini WTF??? So… Read more »
Dare I say it? Is Saka our improved Cesc?
Really harsh on Gabriel here, he saved us at the end when he played the offside trap THEN god back to the goal line to almost split himself in two on the post.
I really need Odegaard to stay and be permanent replacement of ozil
I don’t because he’s starting to look more and more like the midfield butterfly we are so glad to have finally booted out.
Scraped through. Not half enough control of the game. 1) Leno -Ok hard done by second goal. First one was a beauty as well. 2) Bellerin – Not his best. Got up field but needs to put in better balls. 3) Luiz – I presume injury issues bc don’t know why we keep persisting with him. One moment second half he mimics Ceballos and led to a shot very close to a goal for them. Then he goes off on Gabriel instead. 4) Gabriel – OK. Pace is useful with him. 5) Xhaka – Reasonable. One half hearted shot from… Read more »
I love Tierney, and his goal was fantastic, but his crosses have generally been terrible since his return.. hope just needs to get his fitness back??
Leno deserves credit tonight for the way he handled Ceballos’s mistake. He could have taken Rafa (and himself) out, but he didn’t. It’s debatable whether Arsenal would be better off needing to score only one goal while a man down, or needing two goals while at full strength. But I believe a sending off would have been a real blow to the team’s mentality.
Well done guys
Tbh, other than the obvious choices of Auba, Salad and KT, I was pleasantly surprised with Xhaka’s play. Especially when teamed up with that donkey Ceballos.
Haha. *Saka
Willian deserves a lil more on the comments for his rating… Add everything you wrote on Partey and it’ll have been fair. Dude contributed more than an assist on the night. Kudos to him
A TEAM OF ‘MOMENTS’ A typically Arsenalised squeaky-bum win – but God knows we’ll take it! So here’s what gnaws at my frontal lobe in the wee hours… This team has certainly improved: Arteta has worked wonders with the dogshow that was our defence (just check that PL stats); we have brought in the Tierneys, Parteys and have the ESRs and Sakas to shed the bright light of possibility on next season; Auba shows a flicker of finding his old positions – and even converting those into goals; Odegaard can – and will – become a lightning rod for this… Read more »
Oops: ‘time’ should be ‘team’. Apologies
10/10 for Tierney rating. Exactly that COYF.
Tierney can fuck my girlfriend while I religiously hold his Holy Tescobag and wait. (Copy from the dude who wrote the amazing tweet about Soucek, potato salad and above)