Arsenal vs Red Star Belgrade - as it happened: Gunners through to knockout stages of Europa League
Re-live the action from The Emirates
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Arsenal will proceed to the knockout stages of the Europa League with a victory over Red Star Belgrade at the Emirates on Thursday.
Following three wins in three so far, Arsenal are comfortably top of Group H, and will even qualify for the final-32 with a draw tonight if BATE Borisov fail to beat Cologne. Recent form, however, will give manager Arsene Wenger confidence that his side can come away with three points.
Despite a difficult week off the pitch – with shareholder protests at last Thursday’s annual general meeting – the Gunners beat Swansea 2-1 at the Emirates over the weekend to record their fourth successive win in all competitions. Saturday’s win was also the third consecutive time that Arsenal have recovered from conceding the first goal, coming back to beat Everton and Swansea in the league, as well as Norwich in the Carabao Cup, in recent weeks. This kind of character not only bodes well for Arsenal in a season in which they will be fighting on multiple league and cup fronts, but will also reassure that an upset is unlikely tonight.
On this evidence, and especially given their crucial league clash with high-flying Manchester City on Sunday, expect some squad rotation from Wenger against Red Star. Olivier Giroud – who scored in the first-leg of this double-header to give Arsenal a 1-0 victory in Serbia – is likely to start, as is Calum Chambers, who has returned to first-team training following an injury layout.
For Red Star, who will now be targeting their later games against BATE and Cologne, any points from the Emirates will be a bonus and they will have to do without right-back Milan Rodic after he was shown two yellows last time out.
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What time does it start?
Arsenal vs Red Star Belgrade kicks off at 20:05.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on BT Sport 2 from 20:00. Highlights will be shown at 22:15 on BT Sport 2.
It’s a big game for…
Jack Wilshere. After six appearances in all competitions, the frustratingly mercurial midfielder has begun to gather some playing momentum this season. With his manager Wenger going on record this week to recommend him to the England squad, the 25 year-old, likely to start tonight, will be hoping for a strong showing to reassure his doubters that he can get back to his brilliant best.
Best stat…
14. If Arsenal are victorious again tonight, they will have won their last 14 games at The Emirates in all competitions, their longest ever winning run at the stadium.
Remember when…
Olivier Giroud scored this beauty last time out in Belgrade, finishing off a slick passing move started by Jack Wilshere with an improvised overhead finish.
Player to watch…
The 12th man… Arsenal’s last Europa League fixture at The Emirates was marred by crowd trouble, with 15,000 Cologne fans inexplicably gaining entry to home sections of the ground and forcing kick-off to be delayed by an hour. The club will be hoping order will be kept more securely tonight and that the famously energetic Red Star Ultras leave their flares back home in Serbia.
Previous three meetings…
Red Star Belgrade 0 Arsenal 1 (Giroud), Europa League, October 2017
Arsenal 1 (Sunderland) Red Star Belgrade 1 (Savic), UEFA Cup, December 1978
Red Star Belgrade 1 (Blagojevic) Arsenal 0, UEFA Cup, November 1978
Form guide…
Arsenal: WLWWWW
Red Star Belgrade: WLWDWL
Odds…
Arsenal: 6/19
Red Star Belgrade: 17/2
Draw: 22/5
Lyon 1-0 Everton
72' - Nikola Vlasic replaces Aaron Lennon for Everton, while Mariano Diaz replaces goalscorer Bertrand Traore for the hosts.
GOAL! Lyon 2-0 Everton (Aouar)
76' - That's a superb finish. Jordan Pickford denies Mariano Diaz with a superb challenge but the ball falls back to Memphis Depay on the edge of the penalty area. The former Manchester United man feints to shoot before picking out Houssem Aouar, who shapes the ball beautifully past Jordan Pickford and into the bottom corner from the left side of the penalty area.
Lyon 2-0 Everton
79' - Close! Rafael goes into the book for a foul on Ademola Lookman on the corner of the penalty area. Gylfi Sigurdsson takes the resultant free-kick but it goes just wide of Anthony Lopes' far post.
Lyon have made their final substitution of the match, with Jordan Ferri replacing Tanguy Ndombele.
Lyon 2-0 Everton
81' - Red card! Morgan Schneiderlin, who was booked for dissent earlier in the second half, is shown a second yellow for a late challenge on Maxwel Cornet.
GOAL! Lyon 3-0 Everton (Depay)
88' - It's going from bad to worse here for Everton. Memphis Depay heads the ball past Jordan Pickford from a sumptuous Jordan Ferri cross to make it 3-0 to the hosts.
The Toffees' Europa League campaign has been nothing short of an absolute disaster.
Lyon 3-0 Everton
90' - Three minutes of additional time to come here.
Lyon 3-0 Everton
90+3' - Stoppage time might be a little longer than the signalled three minutes. Houssem Aouar is currently receiving treatment after a very nasty challenge by Mo Besic, who has gone into the book for his troubles.
Full-time - Lyon 3-0 Everton
The final whistle goes and Everton's Europa League dream has turned into a nightmare. They're out of the competition with two games of the group stage still to play.
No time to dwell on that result for me though - Arsenal vs Red Star Belgrade will kick off in just five minutes' time. Stay tuned for regular updates from the Emirates.
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