10-man Arsenal suffered a 3-1 loss to French side Rennes in the first-leg of their round-of-16 Europa League clash on Thursday night, and they have their work cut out for them ahead of next week’s return leg.
The Gunners scored the opener four minutes into the game through Alex Iwobi, and were brimming with confidence from the start.
However, the tide turned when Greek centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos picked up his second booking of the night on the 41st minute, and the hosts drew level seconds later through Benjamin Bourigeaud.
Rennes headed into the lead 20 minutes into the second-half courtesy of an own goal from Nacho Monreal, and things were made worse two minutes from regulation time after Ismaila Sarr headed in the goal that put the game beyond Unai Emery’s side.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright reacted to the loss on Twitter with a gif that perfectly summed it all up.
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) March 7, 2019
The north Londoners lost the first-leg of their last-32 clash against Belarusian Premier League side BATE Borisov 1-0, only to secure a 3-0 win at the Emirates the following week, and they will be looking to produce something similar when Rennes come visiting next Thursday.
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