Alex Iwobi was subbed on for Arsenal who overturned a first-leg 3-1 deficit suffered in the first leg away to Rennes to advance to the quarter-final of the UEFA Europa League competition with a 4-3 aggregate win reports Completesports.com.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang’s double and a header from Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ saw Arsenal book a spot in the next round of the competition.
Iwobi replaced Alexandre Lacazette in the 70th minute of the win. The game was his eighth appearance of the season and has scored once with two assists to his name.
The Gunners had lost 3-1 in the first leg played in France but started off brightly and scored in the fifth minute through Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabonese captain sidefooted in a cross from Aaron Ramsey to give the Gunners the lead.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles leveled the tie for Arsenal in the 15th minute heading in Sead Kolasinac’s cross to make it 2-0 on the night and 3-3 on aggregate.
Aubameyang.then poked in Sead Kolasinac’s low cross after the break to make it 3-0 in the 72nd minute.
It is the second successive season Arsenal have made it through to the last eight – they were knocked out in the semi-finals last year following a 2-1 aggregate defeat by Atletico Madrid.
At the San Siro stadium, Inter Milan were knocked out of the competition after they lost 1-0 to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Luka Jovic struck the match winner after six minutes. Benfica also beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 in the second leg to advance 3-1 on aggregate.
At the Estadio de la Cerámica, Samuel Chukwueze’s Villarreal’s completed a double over Russian club, Zenit St Petersburg beating them 2-1 second leg win to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition
with a 5-2 aggregate win.
Villarreal who had secured a 3-1 away win in the first leg raced to a two-goal lead through Gerard Moreno and Carlos Bacca but Branislav Ivanovic halved the deficit in added time for Zenit St Petersburg.
Chukwueze, 19, who played the entire duration of the first leg, was an unused substitute for Villarreal. He has made seven appearances in the competition for the Yellow Submarines with one goal and one
assist to his name.
Elsewhere in the Europa League, Slavia Prague knocked out Sevilla in a seven goal thriller in Prague.
The hosts, Slavia Prague beat three-time winners, Sevilla 4-3 in the second leg to book a place in the last eight with a 6-5 aggregate win.
Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui scored in the 14th minute to hand Slavia Prague the lead but Wissam Ben Yedder restored parity for the La Liga side.
Tomas Soucek gave Slavia Prague’s lead two minutes into the break but Munir El Haddad drew once again.
In extra time, Franco Vazquez gave Sevilla the lead for the first time in the game but the celebration was shortlived four minutes later when Mick van Buren restored parity for Slavia Prague. Ibrahim Traore sealed the win for the home team.
By Johnny Edward.
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