Amy Lawrence was the Emirates and here is what she made of events:
Ramsey's post-match debrief
“To keep a clean sheet and score a couple of goals is a lovely way to start the first leg. We’re delighted with that. In the second half we suffered a lot, they’re a very good team. We had to dig in. But it’s a great start to the tie.”
“I should have scored again in the second half ... but these things happen sometimes. We’re delighted to have kept a clean sheet. We can go into the second leg with a little cushion.”
“[Napoli] were unlucky not to go through [in the Champions League] and they’re second in Serie A. They’re a tough team to play against. We know it’s a tough place to go so we have to be ready.”
“We have won away from home this season so we are capable of doing it. We haven’t done so well [away] lately but we’re confident we can put that right.”
Here are the other results from today’s Europa League quarter-finals:
Slavia Prague 0-1 Chelsea
Villarreal 1-3 Valencia
Benfica 4-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Full-time: Arsenal 2-0 Napoli
That’s a deserved win for Arsenal, but not a decisive one. Napoli created enough bother in the second half to suggest they’re capable of overturning this deficit in next week’s second leg. Arsenal won’t be able to afford another shoddy away performance. They can be confident of scoring at least once in Italy if they reproduce the sharpness they showed here, especially in the first half.
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90+3 min: Napoli are not finished yet. They’re still attacking. At least they were until Koscielny stepped in to pinch the ball off Zielinski.
90+1 min: There will be at least four more minutes.
89 min: Younes shanks a shot wide from the right-hand corner of the Arsenal box after the home side fail to clear a corner.
88 min: Mkhitaryan claims a loss ball in the centre circle and darts forwards. He plays in Aubemayang to his right. The striker takes a touch to tee himself up and then pokes his shot from 15 yards .... into the sidenetting!
86 min: Napoli are still battling hard for that away goal ... but when an attack breaks down, Aubameyang pounces on the ball and races down the other end. Koulibaly soon puts a stop to that and then launches a counter-attack.
84 min: Allan attempts to drop a pass from deep over the top of the Arsenal defence. Monreal strains to cut it out, at the expense of a corner. It’s cleared as far as Younes, who has a bash from 25 yards. It’s low and soft, easy pickings for Cech.
Napoli substitution: Younes on, Insigne off.
80 min: A fluent Arsenal move concludes with Mkhitaryan playing a smart pass from the right byline to Ramsey, who is free 10 yards from goal. But he leans back and scoops his shot over the bar! That’s a bad miss and leaves the tie precariously poised.
78 min: Arsenal seem to have reshaped their priorities. Their main concern now appears to be avoiding the concession of an away goal.
Arsenal substitution: Elneny on, Torreira off, to huge applause.
75 min: Ramsey leads another attack, loping forward with cutting grace. He swaps passes with Iwobi and then feeds Kolasinac, who is rather less blessed with grace. He rushes his cross from inside the box, banging it straight into a defender when teammates were calling for a tap-in.
72 min: Insigne skitters down the right to collect a pass from Hysaj. He plays in a lovely pass on the run across the face of goal. Zielinski, arriving in space at the back post, has a wonderful chance to plunder an away goal ... but he slides in awkwardly and nudges the ball high and wide. With more composure he would have simply slot into the net. What a let-off for Arsenal!
69 min: Kolasinac bombs down the left and into the box before firing a hard ball across the face of goal. The keeper pushes it half-away. It falls to Maitland-Niles, who tries to smash it into the net first time from eight yards. He drills it into the ground, and the keeper adjusts quickly to push the bouncing ball to safety.
68 min: Ramsey is crowded out in midfield - a symptom of how the game has changed - and Napoli attack down the right. Insigne’s cross is cleared at the near post.
Arsenal substitutions: Mkhitaryan and Iwobi on, Lacazette and Ozil off. Shrewd moves by Emery. He has recognised that the momentum had swung towards Napoli and his team need fresh thrust.
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Napoli substitution: Milik on, Mertens off. The Belgian has been quiet.
64 min: A bit of anxiety is creeping into the home crowd as Napoli start to play with more zip, stretching Arsenal’s defence more.
63 min: Monreal makes a panicky clearance after Zielinski spoons the ball acros the face of goal from the left.
62 min: Oh! That was a much better pass, a lovely dink over the top by Insigne. But Mertens failed to get a touch on it as he tried to flick a header past Cech.
61 min: Rui overhits a cross from the left. Their final pass has been systematically woegeous so far.
58 min: Arsenal work a clever corner, Ozil tipping it to Kolasinac, who rolls it into Ramsey, who lets fly from 10 yards. The keeper does well to push it over. From the ensuing corner Monreal heads over from eight yards.
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57 min: Kolasinac clips a nice pass through to Ozil, who nonchalantly helps it on to Aubameyang. Running into the left-hand side of the box, Aubemeyang tries to blast a shot past the last defender and into the net, but it’s diverted out for a corner.
55 min: Napoli are looking a touch more sprightly, but Arsenal remain dangerous, too. The next goal in this could the one on which the tie is truly decided. “So since Koulibaly scored for Arsenal does that mean they get to keep him?” pleads Dwight Moe. “I’m sure the club would give up Mustafi to make up the numbers...” What would be really interesting would be if Liverpool signed him. Pair him with Van Dijk and they might never concede again.
53 min: Cech slides in to try to stop the ball going out of play but he slides out of play with it, conceding a corner. Koulibaly meets the delivery and nods over, via the fingertips off Cech.
52 min: Insigne slots the ball into the net after receiving a pass while about three yards offside. No goal. “Get it right, you idiot!” barfs Andy Goodison. “Uefa has credited the second goal to Torreira, so why don’t you?” Have you been in secret talks with Uefa, Andy? Because idiotic me is just going by what their official website is saying and what my own eyes told me: that Torreira’s shot was going wide until the inadvertent deflection off Koulibaly.
48 min: Red alert at the back for Arsenal as Monreal fail to intercept a long pass from deep. Suddenly Insigne is running free down the right. But his weak cross is put behind for a corner, which is cleared.
47 min: Hysaj booked for a lazy foul on Lacazette near half-way.
46 min: The teams re-emerge for the second half, to the sound of Tears for Fears over the stadium PA. No, not Shout - this is the Emirates, after all.
“A very solid 45 minutes for Arsenal,” confirms Pete Mumola. “Will be interesting to see if they keep up the pressure or focus on possession for the clean sheet. I’d take 2-0 over 3-1, personally.”
“Nine shots on target!?” gasps Wendell D’Souza. “Surely the away fixture won’t bother them too much?” You are evidently not familiar with the absurd riddle that is Arsenal’s home/away mindfail.
Tell you who’s enjoying this match, apart from Arsenal fans: Juventus. Because Ramsey has been splendid in midfield, full of sharpness and finesse. Torreira has been brilliant in there, too, and Maitland-Niles is having a blinder from right wingback.
Half-time: Arsenal 2-0 Napoli
“It’s been terrific from Arsenal,” exults Charles Antaki. “But they’re having the grace to lighten it cup with a good dash of the comedy element - ample misplaced passes, mysterious runs, and the supreme air-kick by Lacazette. But otherwise it’s all going well. Too well, surely?” Not well, enough, I’d say. They’ll need at least another goal bearing in mind that there’s still an away leg to come. But on the evidence so far, they’re certainly capable of scoring again. They’ll need to keep an eye on the spaces behinh their wingbacks, though, because that’s where Napoli have threatened on the rare occasions they’ve hinted at nicking an away goal.
44 min: What a chance! Allan caught out Kolasinac with a pass into the right-hand channel. Callejon scampered on to it and pulled the ball back to Insigne, who had a free shot from 15 yards. The excitement overwhelmed the striker and he blazed miles over!
43 min: Ozil dances between two Napoli players in midfield ... but then runs into Koulibaly. Dribble over.
42 min: A stray pass by Ramsey sets up a Napoli attack, which ends with a token shot from long range by Rui. It sails high over the bar.
41 min: It’s practically a cut-and-paste move. Arsenal win the ball in midfield and zoom forward again. This time it concludes with Maitland-Niles slipping a pass through to Aubemayang, who tries to lob the keeper on the run from close range. It’s saved easily.
39 min: Yet again Arsenal win the ball in midfield - they are absolutely lording it in there - and that sets up an attack down the left through Ozil. Aubemeyang eventually opens fire from outside the area. The keeper spills his low shot but pounces on the fumble before Lacazette can punish him.
37 min: another smooth one-touch move by Arsenal is brought to an abrupt end by a foul on Ozil. Arsenal have a freekick to the left of the Napoli box. Ozil picks out M, whose cant guide his header on to the target. Ramsey retrieves it on the far side of the box and fires it back into the danger area. Napoli clear.
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34 min: Aubameyang skedaddles in-field from the left and tees up Lacazette for a free shot from 15 yards. But the Frenchman gets his connection all wrong, scuffing a terrible effort sideways.
34 min: Kolasinac galumphs down the left. But his cross is deflected into the arms of the keeper.
32 min: Corner to Napoli. Mertens takes it ... and fails to beat the man on the first post.
30 min: Another Napoli move is broken up by Arsenal’s pressing. Ozil skips down the right and tries to play in Maitland-Niles, whose bursts forward have been a recurring and exciting theme. But this time the pass is just behind him.
28 min: Insigne tries to play a one-two with Hysaj around the Arsenal box but they don’t have the slickness of the hosts. Monreal puts an end to their clunky scheming.
26 min: Napoli can’t cope with Arsenal pressing, pace and precisions. The hosts have a fair chances of putting this tie to bed today. But how much of a lead would they need for the second leg, bearing in mind how awful they are away?
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Napoli (Koulibaly og 25)
Torreira’s pressing is rewarded as he wins the ball in Napoli territory and then scurries forward and lets fly from 20 yards ... and it takes a huge deflection off Koulibaly and lands in the net!
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21 min: Napoli are trying to play their way back into the game and are beginning to enjoy more time in Arsenal territory. But no one is on hand to convert a cross from Ruiz from the left.
19 min: Monreal mislays a pass while trying to play out from the back. But Torreira comes to his rescue, winning the ball back as Napoli tried to take advantage.
17 min: Koscielny stretches and just about intercepts a pass from deep intended for Insigne, who would have been in on goal if not for the Frenchman.
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GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Napoli (Ramsey 15)
That’s a wonderful team goal! After a sloppy pass by Ruiz near half-way, Arsenal swept forward with a series of on touch passes. Ramsey, Ozil and Lacazette were all involved util Maitland-Niles, having dashed into the box, collected a pass from the left before playing it cleverly into the path of the in-rushing Ramsey, who finished with calm precision from eight yards. Excellent.
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14 min: Torreira’s outswinging corner is headed clear by - guess who? Yes, the inevitable Koulibaly.
12 min: Napoli release Zielinski down the left in the space behind Maitland-Niles. Insigne appeals for a cross in the middle, but the winger fails to deliver, offering a cross that is easily cut out. That was a warning to Arsenal, though, that Napoli could be dangerous on the counter.
10 min: Torreira wins the ball off Allan half-way inside Napoli territory. Arsenal’s aggressive pressing is making the visitors very uncomfortable. “I agree about Cech’s headgear,” chimes in Sam Bain. “He could make so many people so happy by putting Mickey Mouse ears on his foam helmet, yet he stubbornly refuses to. So selfish.”
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7 min: Kolasinac screeches down the left and fires in a low ball that rebounds to Ramsey, who tries to sidefoot it into the net from 16 yards. Koulibaly makes a fine block ... and then gets straight back to make another to deny Maitland-Niles. The Senegalese international is a one-man wall at the moment.
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5 min: Ramsey elicits a cheer by nutmegging Allan near half-way. Arsenal continue pinging the ball around until Sokratis goes long for Aubemayang. But the Gabonese has been carefully tracked by Koulibaly so far, and the defender beats to the ball in the air.
4 min: Neat interplay on the right between Lacazette and Ramsey until Koulibaly intervenes. It’s been a bright start by Arsenal, who are not forcing Napoli to defend.
3 min: Maitland-Niles flies down the right and sends over a decent cross. It’s put behind for a corner. Ruiz heads it away at the near post.
2 min: Kolasinac curls a low pass forward for Aubameyang to chase. Maximovic ties to shepherd it through to the keeper but Meret has no interest in claiming it and remains rotted to his line. Maximovic has to take possession and clear, then rebukes his keeper.
1 min: Arsenal get the game going.
As Napoli’s players walk by and shake the hands of their hosts, it becomes clear exactly how tiny Insigne is. Officially his height is 1m63cm but he looks much smaller than that.
The teams are in the tunnel. Napoli are kitted out all in black, save for blue rings around their shoulders. Arsenal are in their customary home clobber. Incidentally, isn’t slightly surprising in this day and age that Petr Cech has never pimped his head gear.
“This is certainly Napoli’s biggest game this year after facing Liverpool and PSG,” announces Colum Fordham. “Hopefully, as I live in Naples and have become a bona fide fan of the Azzuri, Mertens or Milik will score a precious away goal and make life tough for the Gunners. The whole city will go berserk if Napoli get a result.” They will get a result. It might be a defeat, but it will be a result.
You’re right to mention Milik - he’s lovely player and it’s quite surprising that he’s on the bench, with Insigne starting instead. But there’s a fair chance of him coming off to score later on.
“Hello Paul, my name is Joseph,” writes a man called Joseph. “My request to you is to shoot from distance today. We need goals please.” Right. I’ll be sure to do that. But are you perhaps confusing me with Mesut Ozil?
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“The Three Tenors they a’int, but this Napoli assignment is still precisely the type of tie that Unai Emery needs to win if he’s to get some of the Gooner faithful to stop texting the ‘clown’ emoji aside his name,” reckons Grant Tennille. “Should Insigne tap into a bit of the Italian Renaissance® that’s seen the Azzurri light up the scoreboard recently we could be in for an engaging match indeed. And let’s not forget that English club sides do have a bit of hoodoo going for them when facing teams from The Boot. Or am I just applying selective memory to the past 20 years or so?” Well, Napoli have never won in England, nor even Wales (drawing in Swansea in 2014).
“Look at those badges,” booms Matt Dony. “Arsenal v Netscape Navigator. A meeting of two giants.”
Unai Emery's pre-match thoughts
“We want to control the game against a team who have very good players. They have many offensives players who can make runs behind us so we need to control the spaces and the match ... Tactically it’s going to be an interesting match.” Martin Keown, meanwhile, says Napoli won’t be able to handle the front pair of Aubameyang an Lacazette. Kalidou Koulibaly’s reply to that will be interesting.
Teams
Arsenal: Cech; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Ramsey, Ozil, Kolasinac; Aubameyang, Lacazette
Subs: Leno, Mustafi, Elneny, Iwobi, Guendouzi, Suarez, Mkhitaryan
Napoli: Meret; Hysaj, Maksimovic, Koulibaly, Rui; Callejon, Allan, Ruiz, Zelinski; Insigne, Mertens
Subs: Ospina, Malcuit, Ounas, Ghoulam, Chiriches, Younes, Milik
Referee: A Mallenco (Spain)
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Arsenal’s toughest match yet in their quest for Europa League supremacy. Napoli have been in ropey domestic form of late but are still one of the trickiest opponents that Arsenal could have been pitted against. Carlo Ancelotti’s men are the highest-ranked of the sides who dropped out of the Champions League; they finished the group stages of that competition level with Liverpool on points and goal difference but were squeezed out on goals scored. The Italians suffered a fright in the last round of this tournament but only because they took their foot off the pedal after romping into a 4-0 aggregate lead over RB Salzburg. Arsenal, meanwhile, made life difficult for themselves by flopping to a first-leg defeat in Rennes before storming back to advance. Their away form remains dreadful domestically so there is a little reason to be confident of them overturning a a bad result here at the Emirates by winning in Italy – it is important, then, that they do the business today. Hopefully Unai Emery will see things like that and go full gun for a commanding win. If so, we could be in for a treat today. Let’s be having you!
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