Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a dramatic late winner to help Arsenal edge past Benfica into the last 16 of the Europa League.
In a ‘home’ leg played at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Greece because of Covid-19 restrictions, Aubameyang opened the scoring to give the Gunners a 2-1 aggregate lead.
Diogo Goncalves levelled for Benfica just before the break with a superb free-kick after Dani Ceballos had needlessly fouled Julian Weigl.
The Spanish midfielder compounded that error after the interval with a poor defensive header that saw Rafa Silva race clear to put the visitors in front.
With Arsenal needing two goals to advance because of the away goals rule, Kieran Tierney’s low drive set up a grandstand finish before Aubameyang rescued the tie.
Mikel Arteta’s side will discover their last-16 opponents in Friday’s draw in Nyon (12:00 GMT).
More to follow.
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Benfica
Squad number77Player nameHelton Leite
Squad number4Player nameLucas Verissimo
Squad number30Player nameOtamendi
Squad number5Player nameVertonghen
Squad number17Player nameDiogo Gonçalves
Squad number21Player namePizzi
Squad number28Player nameWeigl
Squad number49Player nameTaarabt
Squad number3Player nameGrimaldo
Squad number27Player nameRafa
Squad number14Player nameSeferovic
Squad number7Player nameEverton
Squad number8Player nameGabriel Pires
Squad number9Player nameNúñez
Squad number10Player nameWaldschmidt
Squad number71Player nameTavares
Line-ups
Arsenal
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Leno
- 2BellerÃnSubstituted forLacazetteat 78′minutes
- 23David Luiz
- 6Gabriel
- 3Tierney
- 8CeballosSubstituted forParteyat 63′minutes
- 34Xhaka
- 7SakaSubstituted forChambersat 90′minutes
- 11ØdegaardSubstituted forElnenyat 90′minutes
- 32Smith RoweSubstituted forWillianat 63′minutes
- 14Aubameyang
Substitutes
- 9Lacazette
- 12Willian
- 17Cédric Soares
- 18Partey
- 19Pépé
- 21Chambers
- 22MarÃ
- 25Elneny
- 30Nketiah
- 33Ryan
- 35Martinelli
- 44Hein
Benfica
Formation 3-5-2
- 77Aleixo Leite
- 4Verissimo da Silva
- 30Otamendi
- 5Vertonghen
- 17Cupido Goncalves
- 21Afonso FernandesSubstituted forSousa Soaresat 58′minutes
- 28WeiglSubstituted forWaldschmidtat 90′minutes
- 49TaarabtBooked at 5minsSubstituted forAppelt Piresat 58′minutes
- 3GrimaldoSubstituted forTavaresat 85′minutes
- 27Ferreira Silva
- 14SeferovicSubstituted forNúñezat 57′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Svilar
- 2Junior
- 7Sousa Soares
- 8Appelt Pires
- 9Núñez
- 10Waldschmidt
- 11Cervi
- 19Machado
- 38Delmino da Silva
- 71Tavares
- 88Matias Ramos
- 99Vlachodimos
Live Text
Match ends, Arsenal 3, Benfica 2.
Second Half ends, Arsenal 3, Benfica 2.
Foul by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal).
Rafa (Benfica) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Offside, Benfica. Nuno Tavares tries a through ball, but Rafa is caught offside.
Substitution, Arsenal. Mohamed Elneny replaces Martin Ødegaard.
Substitution, Arsenal. Calum Chambers replaces Bukayo Saka.
Substitution, Benfica. Gian-Luca Waldschmidt replaces Julian Weigl.
Goal! Arsenal 3, Benfica 2. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) header from very close range to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Bukayo Saka with a cross.
Attempt blocked. Gabriel Pires (Benfica) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Nuno Tavares with a cross.
Substitution, Benfica. Nuno Tavares replaces Alejandro Grimaldo.
Foul by Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal).
Darwin Núñez (Benfica) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Arsenal. Alexandre Lacazette replaces Héctor BellerÃn.
Attempt missed. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) right footed shot from the right side of the box is too high.
Offside, Arsenal. Thomas Partey tries a through ball, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Darwin Núñez (Benfica) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Attempt missed. David Luiz (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
Attempt missed. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Kieran Tierney with a cross.
Goal! Arsenal 2, Benfica 2. Kieran Tierney (Arsenal) left footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Willian.
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