Gervinho, Arsenal
Gervinho scored one goal and created another as Arsenal defeated Olympiacos 3-1 in their Champions League clash at the Emirates on Wednesday.
The Ivorian opened the scoring in the first half and set up the second for Lukas Podolski before Aaron Ramsey sealed the victory at the death, while Kostas Mitroglou scored the only goal for the visitors.
The first chance fell for the hosts in the 11th minute when Santi Cazorla managed to get his freekick on target, but Balazs Megyeri did well to tip the ball over the crossbar.
Then in the 28th minute Mitroglou tested Vito Mannone with a powerful strike from range, but the Arsenal goalkeeper was equal to the task as he went down quickly to make the stop.
The visitors should have taken the lead five minutes when Giannis Maniatis’ cross found Paulo Machado inside the box, but the Portuguese sent his shot over the bar from six yards out.The Greeks were made to pay for that miss in the 42nd minute when Gervinho controlled the ball on the edge of the penalty area before placing a low strike past the goalkeeper.
However, the Gunners were unable to keep their lead until the break as Olympiacos netted the equaliser on the stroke of half time when Mitroglou connected with a cross from Leandro Greco to head into the far post.
Arsenal came close to regaining their lead four minutes after the break when Gervinho cut the ball back to find Cazorla just outside the penalty area, but his shot flew wide of the post.
However, the second goal did arrive in the 54th minute as Gervinho found Podolski in the middle of the penalty area, and the German made no mistake as he smashed the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs.
Laurent Koscielny had a brilliant chance to extend the lead seven minutes later when he connected with Mikel Arteta’s freekick, but somehow he directed his header over the crossbar.
Then in the 28th minute Mitroglou tested Vito Mannone with a powerful strike from range, but the Arsenal goalkeeper was equal to the task as he went down quickly to make the stop.
The visitors should have taken the lead five minutes when Giannis Maniatis’ cross found Paulo Machado inside the box, but the Portuguese sent his shot over the bar from six yards out.The Greeks were made to pay for that miss in the 42nd minute when Gervinho controlled the ball on the edge of the penalty area before placing a low strike past the goalkeeper.
However, the Gunners were unable to keep their lead until the break as Olympiacos netted the equaliser on the stroke of half time when Mitroglou connected with a cross from Leandro Greco to head into the far post.
Arsenal came close to regaining their lead four minutes after the break when Gervinho cut the ball back to find Cazorla just outside the penalty area, but his shot flew wide of the post.
However, the second goal did arrive in the 54th minute as Gervinho found Podolski in the middle of the penalty area, and the German made no mistake as he smashed the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs.
Laurent Koscielny had a brilliant chance to extend the lead seven minutes later when he connected with Mikel Arteta’s freekick, but somehow he directed his header over the crossbar.
Arsenal sealed the victory in added time when Olivier Giroud headed a long ball into the path of Ramsey, who still had to shrug off a defender before chipping the ball over the goalkeeper.