The secondary continental competition in European football, Europa League saw its playoff-round of 32 completed on Thursday.
Among the hopefuls to pave their way to the top 16 were the English Premier League sides Arsenal, Wolves and Manchester United.
The first legs played a week before left all the teams in relatively good positions to progress, with Arsenal beating Olympiakos on the road 0-1, Wolves hammering Espanyol 4-0 at home and Manchester United snatching an away goal in 1-1 draw at Bruges.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal had gone the whole year 2020 without a loss before meeting Olympiakos at Emirates Stadium.
Their streak included six wins and four draws across three competitions, EPL, Europa League and FA Cup. That run, though, came to an abrupt end in the hands of the Greek. Entering the game with one goal lead from the away fixture often causes the team to go into a defensive mode and Arsenal did exactly that. They produced very little in terms of offense in the first half and gave Olympiakos the keys to hit back.
The visitors didn’t hesitate but went 0-1 up on the 53rd minute, equalizing the aggregate with the away goal scored. Arsenal added some pressure, but were held at bay by the relentless visitors.
It took an overtime to figure out the better team and once again it looked good for Arsenal after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalized on 113th minute to give the hosts the lead in aggregate. With seven minutes remaining, it all looked done and dusted – but the Greeks disagreed. At the closing bell Youseff El Arabi put the ball past Bernd Leno and fired Olympiakos into the top-16, handing Mikel Arteta’s team their first loss of 2020.
While Arsenal botched their chances at home, Wolves were in the thick of it at Barcelona. The aggregate lead of 4-0 was secure enough and despite going a goal down three times, there was never a question of the team progressing through to top 16. Espanyol won the game 3-2, but Wolves took the aggregate score 3-6 and go on to play Arsenal-beating Olympiakos in the round of 16.
Manchester United had more of an effort to secure their progress after 1-1 draw in the first leg, but at home they utterly dominated Club Brugge. It all went downhill from the visitors from early on as Simon Deli got thrown out due to a handball on 23rd minute.
United scored the ensuing penalty and quickly added two insurance goals before the half. Brazilian midfielder Fred then wrapped It up by scoring another two on 82nd and 93rd minute to secure ManU their place in top 16. United will face Austrian side LASK in the next round.
