Arsenal proved themselves worthy of their spot in the Europa League semi-final tonight, earning a 1-0 win in Italy.
Napoli started the night needing to overturn a 2-0 loss at the Emirates, and that task was always going to be tough as they feared the damage of what would be a painful away goal.
The hosts worst fears were answered when Alexandre Lacazette made his mark with a classic free-kick, with the goalkeeper being tricked into thinking he was shooting over the wall into the top left, only for him to power it into the opposite side of the goal.
The Azzurri tried to pick themselves up and push for an equaliser to try and get themselves some impetus as they chased a now-needed four goals, but our side was focussed and the Italians were limited to very few dangerous opportunities.
As soon as I saw the midfield pairing of Xhaka and Torreira, with a back three and Kolasinac and Maitland-Niles to boot, it was clear that we were not going to be giving much away, and the tactics were spot on. Napoli ran out of ideas early on, and besides the actual goal, the next best opportunity also fell to us (up to this minute I still have no idea how Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang failed to beat the keeper from the penalty spot).
The final whistle blows with us having won both legs to nil, and there will be no easy games left in the competition (Chelsea have already had all of those!).
The only negative to come from tonight is the loss of Aaron Ramsey to injury. He looks like he may have played his last game for our side, and it would have been a blessing to have had him available as we look to win this competition.
On we go.
Who was your man of the match? How much will we miss Ramsey for the rest of the PL and EL campaigns?
Pat J