Arsenal keeper Petr Cech says his side made a “very difficult” trip to Napoli “look easy” to seal a 3-0 aggregate win and reach the Europa League last four. Alexandre Lacazette’s first-half free-kick into the top corner earned victory on the night after the hosts had had the better of the early chances. “We controlled the game really well and defended really well too,” said Cech. The Gunners will host Valencia in the first leg of their semi-final on Thursday, 2 May (20:00 BST kick-off). Cech, who is retiring as a player this summer, saved well from Jose Callejon, while Arkadiusz Milik had a goal ruled out for offside – but otherwise the Serie A side struggled to make an impression.
“Napoli are a fantastic team who always score a lot of goals, especially here at home, so to keep two clean sheets is obviously something [positive],” added the 36-year-old Czech. “It was a very difficult game but we made it look easier because we played really well.” It ensured a comfortable night’s work for the Gunners as Unai Emery marked his 50th game as their manager. Arsenal, who arrived at the Stadio San Paolo with a 2-0 lead from the first leg at Emirates Stadium, could have doubled their margin of victory on the night but home goalkeeper Alex Meret superbly saved from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the break.
The only negative aspect of the evening for Arsenal was Aaron Ramsey hobbling off with a suspected hamstring injury. The Wales midfielder was withdrawn in the first half and will be a doubt for the club’s remaining fixtures before his summer move to Juventus. When it comes to the Europa League knockout stages, Emery has an unequalled managerial record – 26 wins. And his know-how from winning the tournament three seasons in a row from 2013-14 while manager of La Liga side Sevilla came to the fore in the second leg. While the 2-0 advantage from the first leg gave Arsenal room for manoeuvre, there were few thoughts of simply playing to contain their opponents.
Deploying a three-man defence allowed them to initially take the game to their hosts as Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Sead Kolasinac pressed forward and Lucas Torreira and Ramsey controlled proceedings in midfield. Napoli did respond but Lacazette’s goal signalled the end of the home pressure and settled any lingering Arsenal nerves.