Arsenal was held to a 1-1 draw in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 ties against Benfica in Portugal on Thursday.

The Gunners went behind in the game in the 55th minute of the second half after Emile Smith Rowe handled the ball in the Arsenal box.

Benfica forward Pizzi scored his seventh goal of the season in the competition after converting the resultant penalty.

However, the lead was not for long as Bukayo Saka equalized two minutes later. The goal is his first in the Europa League this season but he has managed six in total in all competitions.

Arsenal should have led the game from the first half but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who scored a Hattrick in Arsenal’s 4-2 victory over Leeds United at the weekend missed plenty of chances.

However, Mikel Arteta will be glad his team has an away goal advantage and so also is the goalscorer for the Gunners who are hoping the team learns from last season’s elimination in the hands of Greek side Olympiakos.

“We had a lot of chances tonight. We dominated the whole game. They got a lucky penalty which I don’t think was. We had to react well. We got a goal back and could have gone on to win it. It’s not the worst result, we got an away goal.” Saka said.

The Gunners will have their hands full at the Emirates on Sunday when they face Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Earlier on Thursday, Tottenham thrashed Wolfsberger 4-1 in Austria. Son Heung Min, Gareth Bale, and Lucas gave Spurs a comfortable first-half lead.

Micheal Liendl pulled one back for the host in the second half but Carlos Vinicius scored Spurs’ fourth goal of the night.

Meanwhile, Leicester City played a goalless draw in the Czech Republic against Slavia Prague while Manchester United defeated Real Sociedad 4-0.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu