Arsenal too clinical for Bate Borisov in Europa League

Arsenal put on a clinical display to overcome a one-goal deficit and advance to the last 16 of the Europa League.

Arsenal defender Sokratis, right, heads home his side’s third goal against Bate Borisov in their Europa League match at Emirates Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

Arsenal overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Bate Borisov 3-0 (3-1 on aggregate) and reach the Europa League last 16, along with Chelsea, Inter Milan, Napoli and Valencia.

An own goal by Zakhar Volkov, who turned Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s cross into his own net, levelled the tie early on at London’s Emirates Stadium and last season’s semi-finalists dominated from there.

Shortly before halftime Shkodran Mustafi headed home to double Arsenal’s lead and Sokratis nodded in another on the hour to seal victory for the Gunners.

“We wanted this result but also we wanted to play for our supporters to improve and build our mentality after the first match away,” Arsenal coach Unai Emery said.

“We did our best to come back and the team worked very well.”

Inter Milan crushed Rapid Vienna 4-0 (5-0 on aggregate), with Matias Vecino and Andrea Ranocchia sending the Italians into a comfortable lead with early goals.

Strikes from Ivan Perisic and Matteo Politano rounded off the rout.

“It was important to go through and we did it convincingly,” said Ranocchia. “We are happy but there’s a long way to go and we want to reach the final.”

At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea beat Malmo 3-0 (5-1 on aggregate), with Olivier Giroud netting his sixth goal of the competition to sink the Swedes, with Ross Barkley and Callum Hudson-Odoi adding goals.

The Blues needed the victory to bounce back from a clutch of bad results, including a 6-0 Premier League thrashing by Manchester City.

“We needed some confidence back and a good win, especially to reassure ourselves defensively with a clean sheet,” Giroud said.

Celtic’s job against Valencia became tougher when Jeremy Toljan was sent off and the Spanish side scored through Kevin Gameiro for a 1-0 win (3-0 on aggregate). The Scottish champions battled with 10 men for over half the game but came up short.

Simone Verdi and Adam Ounas struck for Napoli in a 2-0 win over FC Zurich (5-1 on aggregate) while Red Bull Salzburg romped to a 4-0 win over Club Brugge (5-2 on aggregate).

Rennes earned a 3-1 win at Real Betis to progress 6-4 on aggregate while Villarreal’s 1-1 draw against 10-man Sporting Lisbon moved them into the next round.

There were no goals in Lisbon as Benfica held off Galatasaray (2-1 on aggregate). Eintracht Frankfurt thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 4-1 (6-3 on aggregate), although Bayer Leverkusen were eliminated after Krasnodar earned a 1-1 draw and went through on away goals.

Zenit St Petersburg grabbed a 3-1 win over Fenerbahce (3-2 on aggregate), while Dinamo Zagreb thrashed Viktoria Plzen 3-0 (4-2 on aggregate).

Slavia Prague’s emphatic 4-1 away win at Genk sent them through, while Dynamo Kiev’s 1-0 win over Olympiacos saw the Ukrainians progress (3-2 on aggregate).

DPA