Arsenal defeated FC Zurich 1-0 on Thursday to advance to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League. Kieran Tierney’s outstanding goal was the difference.
Both teams committed men forward in the game’s opening moments. FC Zurich took a daring stance since they knew that if they were to fall into the Europa Conference League, only a victory would do.
In just 17 minutes, a spectacular Kieran Tierney goal gave Mikel Arteta’s team the lead as Arsenal had begun to take control of the game. The ball bounced up to Tierney, who was standing just outside the box, and the Scotland international rifled it home on the first attempt after Fabio Vieira’s shot was stopped and cleared.
FC Zurich kept moving forward but didn’t generate much. Despite winning a string of corners, the Swiss team was unable to use them to threaten in any way. After 34 minutes, the energetic Okita blasted a shot at goal that deflected off Elneny, but Ramsdale was up to the challenge and dove cleverly to push it round for a corner.
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Due to a mix of injuries, substitutions, and the referee regularly blowing for fouls, the second half was quite stop-start. When necessary, Arsenal played strong defense, but the real pressure didn’t come until the final five minutes or so. Zurich did a great job of maintaining a 1-0 lead and then made a late push for a goal, but Mikel Artetat’s team held strong and won the match.
They win their group and advance directly to the Round of 16, avoiding a challenging play-off match against a dropout from the Champions League.
