Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made it into the Europa League’s Team of the Week, after their performances in the comeback victory over Rennes.

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 14: Ainsley Maitland-Niles of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Arsenal and Stade Rennais at Emirates Stadium on March 14, 2019, in London, England. (Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 14: Ainsley Maitland-Niles of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Arsenal and Stade Rennais at Emirates Stadium on March 14, 2019, in London, England. (Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images)

Arsenal needed some big performances in Thursday’s match, given Rennes had taken a 3-1 lead against the 10-man Gunners in the first leg. Thankfully, Aubameyang and Maitland-Niles really stepped up to the task.

Within 15 minutes, the duo were both already on the scoresheet. Maitland-Niles played a big part in the build-up to Aubameyang’s goal and the Gabon international returned the favour by setting up the Arsenal academy graduate for the second. After that, Aubameyang added a third in the second half.

Maitland-Niles’ performance was about more than just his contribution to the goals. He made four tackles, more than anyone else in the match, and a couple of interceptions as well. Both players made deserving entrants in the Europa League’s Team of the Week.

https://twitter.com/EuropaLeague/status/1106589737240932354

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Arsenal will need the pair to step up again in both legs of the next round against Napoli, as they’ll struggle to turn around a first-leg deficit this time. Let’s hope they don’t need to.

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