Arsenal player ratings vs Olympiacos: Odegaard, Gabriel and Elneny strike

Arsenal beat Olympiacos 3-1 in their Europa League last 16 first leg tie on Thursday as stunning goals from Martin Odegaard, Gabriel and Mohamed Elneny put the tie firmly in the Gunners’ control.

Facing old foes in European competition, Mikel Arteta opted to match that by going for a similar setup from the side that drew 1-1 with Burnley in the Premier League. Hector Bellerin came in at right-back with Gabriel taking Pablo Mari’s spot in the heart of defence, with Willian keeping his place up top alongside Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal started like a house on fire, getting stuck into their opponents and holding them tight in their grip.

Martin Odegaard missed a glorious chance two minutes in and then Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw a deflected header wonderfully tipped onto the crossbar as the Gunners turned the screw.

Arsenal player ratings vs Olympiacos in the Europa League as Martin Odegaard, Gabriel and Mohamed Elneny secure huge 3-1 win

The opening goal came in different fashion, however, as Odegaard unleashed a stunning drive through Jose Sa for his maiden Gunners goal.

In the second half Arsenal continued their dominance, offering Olympiacos nothing in the final third until calamity struck for the third time on the night. Bernd Leno’s dangerous pass into Dani Ceballos was woefully controlled by the Spaniard, who handed the ball to Youssef El-Arabi to curl home.

With Arsenal’s potency waning, Gabriel produced a stunning header from Willian’s delivery to put the visitors’ noses back in front. A quite stupendous leap.

And then, in remarkable fashion, a magnificent strike from Mohamed Elneny put the tie firmly in control ahead of the second leg next week.

Arsenal Goalkeeper & Defenders Ratings

Bernd Leno (GK) – 4/10 – Safe pair of hands in between the sticks and eager to build out as soon as he received the ball. Was mostly untroubled until he put Ceballos under the cosh with a horrid pass out from the back. He should have gone for the easier ball on this occasion. Errors. Errors. Errors.

Hector Bellerin (RB) – 7/10 – Excellent addition to Saka on the right side, constantly overlaping and providing the width his teammate needed to drift into the half-spaces. His pressing for Odegaard’s goal was superb and his energy levels relentless throughout. Some untidy moments but he hasn’t played in two weeks.

David Luiz (CB) – 7/10 – Frustratingly, Luiz was solid in the heart of defence, cleaning up Olympiacos attacks and getting the ball moving through the thirds. He even contributed as a wall-pass option in advanced areas. However, there is always an error with him and this time he got very lucky.

Gabriel (CB) – 9/10 – Off in a few moments but otherwise a solid partner to Luiz, and was so harshly done by with a yellow card for the same fouls Olympiacos players were committing all game. He pressed when he needed to and covered runners effectively. Oh, and don’t forget:

What. A. Header.

Kieran Tierney (LB) – 8/10 – Such a threatening outlet for any side to deal with. He had Lala in La La Land throughout the 90 minutes, constantly beating the right-back on the outside and laying off a few neat cut-backs and crosses into the box. Better finishing and he’d be on double figures for assists this season.