Europa: Arsenal, Man United cruise into semis with easy wins

Slavia Prague`s Nigerian striker Peter Olayinka (L) and Arsenal`s Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka vie for the ball during the UEFA Europa League quarter-final. Pic/AFP

With their season on the line, Arsenal's players produced a devastating first-half performance on Thursday to beat Slavia Prague and reach the Europa League semi-finals.

They'll meet a familiar face there. Arsenal's 4-0 win in the Czech capital - secured courtesy of a three-goal burst in six minutes from the 18th - clinched a 5-1 aggregate victory and set up a Last Four match against Villarreal, which is managed by Unai Emery. The Spanish coach spent an underwhelming 18 months at Arsenal as Arsene Wenger's replacement in 2018-19 and is rebuilding his managerial career at Villarreal, which beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 and advanced 3-1 on aggregate. Manchester United and Roma complete the semi-final lineup.

United is back in the Last Four for a second straight season after beating Spanish team Granada 2-0 for a 4-0 aggregate win. Roma drew 1-1 with Ajax to squeeze through 3-2 on aggregate. Arsenal and Roma were under pressure to advance because the Europa League represents their only chance of winning a trophy this season and their only realistic route into next season's Champions League, owing to their lowly current placing in their domestic leagues. Arsenal is ninth in the Premier League and Roma seventh in Serie A.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever