Arsenal ease past Slavia into Europa League semis

Arsenal are into the Europa League semi-finals after a superb 4-0 win over Slavia Prague in their quarter-final second leg at Eden Arena in the Czech Republic on Thursday night saw them advance 5-1 on aggregate.

The Action: With the Czech side unbeaten in 31 home matches, this game looked a tough one on paper, but three goals in the opening 24 minutes for the Gunners settled the tie.

Arsenal started in style and could have taken the lead earlier than they did, as Emile Smith-Rowe saw an early goal chalked off for offside by VAR.

On 18 minutes, however, Nicolas Pepe got the ball rolling when he smashed his shot into the roof of the net after some delightful footwork by Smith-Rowe.

The Gunners were in the groove and doubled their lead moments after when Bukayo Saka was brought down inside the box by Jakub Hromada and Alexandre Lacazette converted from the spot.

Three minutes later Arsenal punished their hosts with a third goal: Saka's low drive from the edge of the box making it 3-0 with 24 minutes on the clock.

In the second-half, the game slowed down, but Mikel Arteta's men still scored a fourth with Lacazette netting his second of the night from a lightning counter-attack in the 77th minute.

The Big Picture: The result means Arsenal will face Villarreal, who beat Dinamo Zagreb in their quarter-final, in a semi-final showdown that sees the Gunners go head-to-head with former manager Unai Emery. In the other semi-final, Manchester United will take on AS Roma.

The Gunners turn their attention back to the Premier League this weekend, as they host relegation threatened Fulham.

🤩 The semi-finals are 𝘀𝗲𝘁! 🤩

Who will contest the final in Gdańsk? 🏆#UEL pic.twitter.com/WxoEC80WAj

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) April 15, 2021

Man of the Match: Alexandre Lacazette. Two important goals from the in-form Frenchman propelled his team into the semi-finals.

Moment of the Match: There was actually a powerful moment involving Lacazette before the game started. While Arsenal's players and the referee took a knee to send a message against racism and discrimination, Slavia Prague's players huddled together as they did in the first leg at the Emirates.

However, last night's captain Lacazette looked directly at the Slavia players in a defiant act that will keep the issue of how to best combat racism in the headlines. 

Lacazette ✊❤️ pic.twitter.com/aHlh1SYr00

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 15, 2021