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Football London
Football London
Sport
Jamie Kemble

'Sliding into the semi-finals' - How the Arsenal dressing room reacted to Slavia Prague win

Arsenal players have been celebrating their progression to the Europa League semi-finals.

The Gunners progressed to the penultimate stage of the competition on Thursday night after beating Slavia Prague 4-0 to win 5-1 on aggregate thanks to second leg goals from Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka and a brace from Alexandre Lacazette.

With European qualification very unlikely in the league, Arsenal have kept their hopes alive for European football next season by progressing with Champions League football on offer for the winner of this competition.

The Gunners will now face Villarreal in the semi-finals after the La Liga side cruised past Dinamo Zagreb in their quarter-final tie, the team that dumped Tottenham out at the Round of 16 stage.

After a rocky run of form, the Gunners needed a statement win, and they got two, comfortably defeating Sheffield United before the Slavia Prague rout.

But if the Gunners want to progress to the final, where one of Manchester United or AS Roma will await, they will have to overcome a Villarreal side who have proven themselves dangerous under Europa League master Emery.

The Yellow Submarine are unbeaten in this season's competition, winning 11 and drawing once to establish themselves as firm contenders.

But the semi-finals can wait for now as the Arsenal stars enjoy their moment and celebrate that statement win over Slavia Prague.

Here's what some players had to say on Twitter.

Arsenal stars were delighted with their win over Slavia Prague (Twitter)
The Gunners are within touching distance of the final (Twitter)

With the semi-final fixture now confirmed, Villarreal will be at home in the first-leg on Thursday, April 29 before Arsenal welcome them to the Emirates Stadium a week later on Thursday, May 6.

The winner will then travel to Gdansk, Poland, for the final on Wednesday, May 26 where they will face either Manchester United or Roma after the former defeated Granada and the Italian's snuck past Ajax.

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