Arsenal: Bernd Leno, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang not to blame

Bernd Leno and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang committed critical errors in the final stages of Arsenal’s loss to Olympiakos. However, while the mistakes were criminal, neither are to blame for the defeat.

Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Olympiakos on Thursday night was devastating. After producing a mature performance in the first leg to take a one-goal lead back to the Emirates, it was expected that Mikel Arteta’s side would ease their way through to the Round of 16. How wrong we all were.

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There were two critical errors made in the final minutes that led to the Gunners’ demise. It was thought that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had again played the role of hero and rescued his team with a brilliant overhead kick. He would still have a heartbreaking role to play, but first, it was Bernd Leno who would hurt his own team.

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Rather than manage the game and clear the ball, playing smartly and prioritising territory in the final minutes, Leno took an ill-advised touch and was harried into passing it straight out of play for a corner kick. From that corner kick, Olympiakos would send a secondary cross into the box and prod the ball into the bottom corner. That, it seemed, was thought.

Aubameyang, though, had one more opportunity. And what an opportunity it was. The ball fell to him on the edge of the six-yard box. He had to take it first-time. He had little time to set himself. But all he needed to do was steer the ball past a stranded goalkeeper. Instead, he went for power, connected poorly, and couldn’t bend the shot inside the far post.

After the match, Aubameyang was crestfallen in his interview with BT Sport. The centre-forward said:

https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/1233166636447928329

"“[I am] Very very disappointed. What can I say. It’s very hard, very tough. I think we missed putting some pace in the game, that cost us today. The last minute goal was unlucky for us. I don’t even know [how I missed that final chance], I feel very very bad. But that can happen. I don’t know how I missed this chance. I was tired, I had some cramps but I had to score that goal. It was tough because they played very deep, it was hard to find the solutions in the final third. It was a really tough game and tough to find some space.”"

Given the basic nature of the errors and the high-profile timing of them, it would be easy to criticise both Leno and Aubameyang for their performances. But while such questions are valid for those specific moments, to blame Leno and Aubameyang is to take an extremely shortsighted view of the season as a whole.

It was only four days ago that the pair were rescuing Arsenal against Everton, Aubameyang scoring two brilliant goals and Leno making several excellent saves in the second half. And throughout their respective periods at the club, both have performed superbly and routinely earned the team more victories than they have defeats.

So yes, could you apportion a significant amount of the blame for the Olympiakos embarrassment on Leno and Aubameyang? Yes. But they were not the only players to make mistakes and their performances throughout the season given them money in the bank.