JAKARTA - Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 1-1 in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals at the Emirates Stadium in London, England, Thursday local time (Friday WIB).
Nicolas Pepe led Arsenal to a four-minute lead in normal time, but the visiting team responded right at the end of injury time through Tomas Holes, UEFA's official website notes.
The result provides a positive for Slavia who will next host Arsenal at the Sinobo Stadium in Prague, Czech Republic, for the second leg on Thursday, April 15 next week.
Arsenal was in complete control throughout the first half but failed to gain an edge after throwing away at least five good chances.
Six minutes into the second half, Cedric Soares sent a well-taken cross to Rob Holding who stood in front of the goal, but the Arsenal center-back header was perfectly anticipated by goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar.
Two minutes into the second half, Bukayo Saka was brought down by David Zima inside the Slavic penalty box, but referee Andreas Ekberg stated the foul first occurred outside the restricted area.
The free-kick was well executed by Willian over the Slavic lively fence, but the ball still grazed the outside of the goalposts.
Slavia slowly got out of Arsenal's pressure and created a good chance in the 58th minute, but Jan Boril's deflected shot after hitting Hector Bellerin was met by a swift reaction from goalkeeper Bernd Leno blocked the ball with his feet.
Four minutes later, luck again turned to Arsenal when Alexandre Lacazette got the ball wildly alone from the center of the pitch and curled into the Slavic defense to beat Kolar, but his shot was denied by the goalkeeper.
The deadlock only broke in the 86th minute when Pepe calmly tricked Kolar after receiving Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's pass to send the ball into the far post area to open Arsenal's lead.
Ironically, the goal whipped up the fighting spirit of the Slavic players, and Leno was forced to struggle to stop a dangerous shot released by Lukas Provod resulting in a corner for the visiting team in the third minute of injury time.
The corner was perfectly exploited by Slavia who ended up with Holes' sharp header to force a 1–1 draw.
Not the result we were looking for tonight.
🔴 1-1 ⚫️ (FT)
🏆 #UEL
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 8, 2021
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