Valencia vs Arsenal player ratings: Gunners through to Europa League final thanks to striker masterclass

Man-for-man markings from the Europa League semi-final second leg in Valencia

Luke Brown
Mestalla
Thursday 09 May 2019 21:40 BST
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Arsenal are through to the Europa League final after a frantic 4-2 victory over Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium, securing an aggregate 7-3 victory.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's hat-trick saw Arsenal overcome a nervous start after Kevin Gameiro's early opener, but the match played out in similar circumstances to the first leg between these two sides a week ago.

Having fought back from behind to win at the Emirates Stadium 3-1, Valencia immediately gave themselves hope when Gameiro tapped home from close range.

But just like in the first leg, Auabemyang and his strike partner Alexandre Lacazette quickly took over. Aubameyang scored the first of his three goals on the night as he got onto the end of a Lacazette flick, before the Frenchman followed suit by scoring the crucial goal after half-time that gave Arsenal breathing space and meant that the Liga side needed five goals on the night to progress to the final in Baku.

Arsenal's nerves were all but settled when Aubameyang added his second of the night in the 69th minute, and he looked to round out the victory with his ihat-trick sealing goal in the penultimate minute of normal time, thw two strikes sandwiching a consolation from Gameiro as he netted his second.

So how did the players peform? Click on the gallery above to see our player ratings.

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