Arsenal has begun its Europa League campaign with a victory. Goals for the academy graduates Bukayo Saka and Joe Willock helped the club overcome difficult test against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Willock placed the Gunners in front with a deflected shot in the first half. Saka came in and smashed his first senior goal for the club in the 85th minute.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added a third goal two minutes later as Arsenal ended their three-game winless run.
Gunners had created further chances to themselves. Additionally, they relied on the goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez to come to the aid of their fragile defense.
The Argentine produced excellent low saves to deny Filip Kostic and Andre Silva in the first half.
The second half became frantic in front of a vociferous home crowd with Arsenal’s late goals coming after Dominik Kohr was shown a second yellow card for a cynical foul.
The Gunners are top of the early Group F table on goal differences.
Bukayo Saka on attack
Unai Emery opted for a mixture of youths and experience for the game in Germany. The match was Arsenal’s toughest test in Group F, but their young players stood out.
The 18-year-old Saka who was playing for the first time this season was excellent on the left flank, scoring once and setting up the other two goals.
He created Willock’s goal by beating his marker with fine skill in midfield. He became the main threat for the Gunners in the first half.
what about their defensive?
Although the Gunners kept a second clean sheet of the season, they still looked uncertain at the back.
Eintracht, who reached the Semifinals of the Europa League last season before losing on penalties to Chelsea, lost strikers Sebastian Haller and Luka Jovic to West Ham and Real Madrid respectively in the summer. Had he not been in their-up on Thursday, Arsenal’s slack defense may have been punished.
Kostic caused right-back, Calum Chambers, significant problems but was wasteful, as was AC Milan Loanee Silva, who shot well wide in the second half when given another good opportunity.
That said, Martinez, brought in for first-choice goalkeeper Bernd leno, impressed with key saves in the first half and assured handling when called upon.