Antoine Griezmann rescued a 1-1 draw for 10-man
Atletico Madrid at Arsenal and Marseille beat Salzburg 2-0 in Europa
League semi-final first legs on Thursday.
Defender Sime Vrsaljko and Atletico coach Diego Simeone were sent off
in the opening stages and Alexandre Lacazette’s 61st minute header
gave a dominant Arsenal the advantage.
However Griezmann burst through on goal with eight minutes to go,
capitalizing on a Laurent Koscielny error and finishing at the second
attempt to net a crucial away goal.
In Marseille Florian Thauvin headed home at the back post in the 15th
minute to open the scoring for the hosts after Dimitri Payet’s
curling free-kick tricked Salzburg goalkeeper Alexander Walke.
Clinton Njie netted the second for Marseille after more fine play by
Payet, to give the French side a commanding lead.
At the Emirates, Vrsaljko was booked in the second minute for
tripping Jack Wilshere and then in the 10th for a late challenge on
Lacazette, and was correctly dismissed.
Atletico coach Simeone was outraged and a minute later he was sent
off too, after screaming at referee Clement Turpin for not booking
Hector Bellerin.
Wilshere headed straight at Jan Oblak and Nacho Monreal sent a volley
fizzing wide of the Slovenian goalkeeper’s far post.
Atletico began to find a way into the game and Griezmann tested David
Ospina first with a low strike from distance and then a fierce drive
after a mazy dribble by Thomas Partey.
Arsenal took full control at the start of the second half and soon
found the breakthrough, with Lacazette nodding home to put the hosts
ahead.
The Gunners continued to push for a second goal, keeping the majority
of possession, but a tiring Atletico could not believe their luck
when a long ball allowed Griezmann in on goal.
Koscielny bungled his attempted clearance and after Ospina denied
Griezmann on the first attempt, the French striker followed up to ram
the ball beyond the slipping Shkodran Mustafi on the goalline.
The away goal means a 0-0 draw would be sufficient for Atletico at
the Wanda Metropolitano in the second leg, where they have 11 clean
sheets in their last 11 games and have not conceded all season in
this competition.
Aaron Ramsey forced a fine save from Oblak with a late header but
Arsenal could not grab another, leaving departing coach Arsene Wenger
with a feeling of frustration which has become all too familiar in
recent years.
At the Velodrome in the south of France, Marseille started
confidently and soon got the goal their ambition deserved, with
Thauvin on target thanks to Payet’s inviting ball.
Salzburg might have had a penalty early in the second half when
Maxime Lopez appeared to bring down Stefan Lainer in the area but the
referee waved away the appeal.
Instead Marseille grabbed their second goal after Payet again created
an opening, teeing up substitute Njie to tuck home.
Fredrik Gulbrandsen struck the post after reaching Andreas Ulmer’s
cross but the Austrians could not find an away goal, leaving
Marseille with one foot in the Lyon final.
The second legs take place on Thursday, May 3.
Source:Grez
