WHAT HAPPENED
We were knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night as a goal deep into extra-time by Youssef El Arabi condemned us to a 2-1 defeat on the night to Olympiacos.
Leading 1-0 from the first leg in Athens, we found it tough to get going for much of the match and were made to pay when the Greek side took the lead through a Papa Abou Cisse header at the start of the second half.
Suddenly the visitors were full of confidence, and Bernd Leno had to pull off a flying save to deny Kostas Tsimikas after the left back let fly from the edge of the area.
But we slowly started to turn the screw, putting the Greek side under serious pressure as the clock ticked on and Nicolas Pepe soon forced a good save out of Jose Sa.
But with the tension rising inside the Emirates, we could find no way through as Alex Lacazette crashed one shot over the bar, before Sa got down low to deny Lucas Torreira.
But with no way through and the scores deadlocked on aggregate, we went to extra time and while our incessant pressure continued, so did the visitors’ resolute defending.
In fact, the best chance of the first half of extra time fell to the Greek side when Bruno Gaspar was found to the right of the area but blazed his shot over the bar.
Olympiacos went close again when El Arabi clipped the top of the bar with a curling effort from the edge of the area, but we finally found the breakthrough when the ball was curled in from the left, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sent a sensational overhead kick into the top corner.
But there was to be one final twist when the visitors tossed the ball into the box in the 120th minute and the ball fell to El Arabi, who poked the ball past Leno and into the net to leave the Emirates stunned.
There was still time for one final chance as the ball fell to Aubameyang five yards out but he somehow screwed it wide and that was that – we were out.
HOW IT HAPPENED
See how the match unfolded with our play-by-play commentary from Emirates Stadium.
WHAT’S NEXT
We have the weekend off, but return to action on Monday when we travel to Portsmouth in the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup.
We last faced the League One side in the competition back in March 2004, winning 5-1 thanks to a Kolo Toure goal and braces from Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg.
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