Arsenal suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Belarusian Premier League side BATE Borisov in the first leg of the Europa League round-of-32 on Thursday night.
Stanislav Dragun’s goal on the stroke of half-time proved to be the difference on a night where the north Londoners wasted a lot of chances, and manager Unai Emery will need to inspire his side to a needed comeback when the return-leg takes place at the Emirates.
Arsenal’s woes were compounded in the closing stages of the second-half when Alexandre Lacazette was shown a red card for elbowing BATE player Aleksandar Filipovic..
Celebrity broadcaster and Arsenal fan Piers Morgan couldn’t believe the result, and his reaction to the loss on Twitter sums it all up.
Who the f*ck are ‘BATE Borisov’… and how the f*ck have we just lost to them? What IS this insanity? pic.twitter.com/Y5uRJgjwgo
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 14, 2019
Arsenal thought they had equalized after Lacazette put the ball in the net some minutes after play commenced for the second-half, but the goal was rightly ruled off for offside.
The visitors were close to grabbing the opener 90 seconds into the game only for Henrikh Mkhitaryan to see his shot saved.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came on for the final 20 minutes of the game, but with Arsenal struggling to dismantle a well-organized BATE defence, the Gabonese striker often had to drop deep for the ball, and it rendered him ineffective.
January loan signing Denis Suarez was also brought on for the last 15 minutes of the game, but he couldn’t find a way through the hosts’ backline.
Arsenal host BATE next Thursday, and fans will hope they do better than they did today in order for them to secure a spot in the Europa League round-of-16.
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