BATE pull off unlikely victory over Arsenal

An underwhelming performance from Unai Emery's men, who created chances throughout the match but it was BATE Borisov who were able to capitalise on theirs, defeating Arsenal at home. Arsenal enjoyed most of the first-half possession as they attempted to break through BATE's largely solid defence. Lacazette and Iwobi were able to find gaps to create chances for the Gunners but neither could capitalise for Arsenal and the scoreline remained level at 0-0.

That was until BATE found themselves with a free-kick, right on the stroke of half-time, and Stanislaw Drahun broke the deadlock as he got a great connection on the free-kick with a header that sailed past Petr Cech. Unai Emery was visibly frustrated as his Premier League side failed to convert any of their numerous chances. One can only imagine what was said in the Arsenal dressing room at half-time.

The players emerged from the tunnel for the second-half with Arsenal looking keen to get the equaliser early on. As in the first-half, the Gunners created various chances and very nearly broke through the BATE defence to equalise. But, chance after chance went by and Unai Emery grew increasingly animated as he tried to rally his side to victory.

One key moment for Arsenal came when Lacazette thought he had scored, but was deemed offside by the linesman. His night came to a dramatic end as he received a red card for a hand to the face against Filipovic. Kolasinac was also afforded a handful of chances to put Arsenal back in contention but failed to make anything of them.

Unai Emery and his team will be bitterly disappointed with their performance this evening as they were expected to come home from Belarus with a result in hand ahead of the second-leg. However, this was not the case and the Gunners' are faced with a hard task as they prepare to face BATE again at the Emirates on 21st February.

 

February 14, 2019