Slavia Prague drew 1-1 with Arsenal in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal. Thanks to a late equalizer from Tomas Holes, Prague are now on a pole position to make an upset in the second leg.
Arsenal were putting pressure the whole first half and Arsenal should have gone ahead through Saka. Saka was played in by Rob Holding but curved his shot wide of the post. Provod too missed a chance when he flashed a drive over the bar.
Saka was again on target as he was tripped just outside the field after outpacing the Slavia defence early in the second half. Freekick was then hit the outside of the upright with the ensuing free kick by Willian.
Lacazette missed another opportunity before Arteta introduced Pepe, Aubameyang, and Mohamed Elneny in the 76th minute. It almost paid off but Aubameyang struggled to finish from close range. Finally, Arsenal broke the deadlock as Pepe chipped one past the keeper.
Pepe was sent speeding away by Aubameyang’s kick, and he outpaced the Czech defense before delicately clipping the ball past Kolar into the corner. But the happiness couldn’t last longer as in the 93rd minute defender Holes deflated Arsenal with a header past Bernd Leno from a post.
Arsenal fans were ecstatic, but it was Slavia’s players who were ecstatic at the final whistle after securing a crucial point for the Czech champions.
