Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal vs Olympiacos: 4 talking points from 3-1 Europa League win

By Ross Kennerley

PIRAEUS, GREECE - MARCH 11: Mohamed Elneny of Arsenal celebrates with team mates Kieran Tierney and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after scoring their side's third goal during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 First Leg match between Olympiacos and Arsenal at Karaiskakis Stadium on March 11, 2021 in Piraeus, Greece. Sporting stadiums around Europe remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)
PIRAEUS, GREECE - MARCH 11: Mohamed Elneny of Arsenal celebrates with team mates Kieran Tierney and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after scoring their side's third goal during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 First Leg match between Olympiacos and Arsenal at Karaiskakis Stadium on March 11, 2021 in Piraeus, Greece. Sporting stadiums around Europe remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal, Hector Bellerin
PIRAEUS, GREECE – MARCH 12: Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Olympiacos FC and Hector Bellerin of Arsenal FC during the UEFA Europa League match between Olympiacos FC and Arsenal FC at Georgios Karaiskakisstadion on March 12, 2021 in Piraeus, Greece (Photo by Eurokinissie/BSR Agency/Getty Images) /

Full-Backs Shine

Both Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney had fine evenings. The latter could be in double figures for assists this season if he had reliable finishers on the end of his many delicious deliveries.

As for Bellerin, two matches worth of rest clearly paid dividends. This writer would’ve preferred Cedric pre-match to account for the Spaniard’s weaknesses in defending transitions, but Arsenal were rarely threatened in that manner and when they were he stood up to the task.

Positional fluidity between Saka and the right-back were key to the early showing. Picking up central positions when the 19-year-old had space to attack out wide and overlapping to account for his movements into the half-space, Bellerin looked more assured in and out of possession than he has done since the turn of the year.

On the opposite flank, a similar scenario played out with Tierney and Willian. Tierney has the best delivery in the side thus his freedom to overlap is greater than Bellerin’s, not least as he had the run on Lala every time.

When the tempo dropped it wasn’t the fault of the full-backs and instead overuse of the ball in other areas, while at the back both made vital interventions at pivotal moments. Bellerin’s clutch block paramount to the win with the scores tied at 1-1 at the time.

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