Alexandre Lacazette doused the Olympiakos flame here to ensure Arsenal did not come Acropolis again on the road.
The France striker netted in the 81st minute to earn only the fifth away win of the season for the Gunners
Mikel Arteta’s side were also only the second team to win here this season after Bayern Munich in November. Arteta said: “It's a really good result. First of all to win away in Europe but to come to a ground like this and win, credit to the lads.
"We suffered for the first 10 minutes, we gave the ball away too much and couldn't get any continuity in our play. In the second half, apart from the set pieces, we controlled the game much better.”
The two teams meet again next Thursday at the Emirates and, despite the victory, Arteta admitted to being frustrated that Lacazette had earlier missed two clear-cut opportunities.
"We could have put the tie in a better position,” he said. “We had positions and chances where we'd expect the players to put the ball in the net.
"We're going game-by-game. There are a lot of things we want to improve. I still see things that mean we can't control the game and damage the opponent. But we are playing with a lot of commitment. We had three players with cramp, struggling at the end.”
Arteta reserved special praise for versatile attacker Bukayo Saka, who once again excelled at left-back and provided his ninth assist.
"We try to put him in the right position,” said the Arsenal boss. "Surrounded by the right players in the right position.
"He's not a full-back. He's responded in the right way, he's got a lot of courage. I'm very pleased with his performance."
The night threatened to turn sour when a home fan appeared to confront Sokratis Papasthathopoulos as he was substituted late on but Arteta insisted it was not a problem.
“I didn’t see that,” said the Spaniard. “He got a knock and he had to come off because he was playing in a position he was not used to.”
