Arsenal overcame Napoli 1-0 in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final to reach the semis with an impressive 3-0 aggregate victory.

The Gunners went to Italy only needing to avoid a two-goal defeat, or a three-goal defeat if they managed to get on the scoresheet. However, the team took their destiny into their own hands by taking the lead through an Alexandre Lacazette free-kick in the first half.

With Napoli needing four, their confidence certainly appeared to take a knock. Though the hosts continued pushing for the opening goal to spark a comeback, Arsenal never really looked worried about that actually happening.

In the end, Unai Emery’s side kept their sixth clean sheet in seven games and set up a trip to Valencia in the semis. Let’s have a look at our player ratings for the clash.

Goalkeeper and Centre-Backs

Petr Cech 7.5

Despite Napoli having 20 shots throughout the 90 minutes, only two were on target, which made Cech’s job a bit easier. In fact, the best save he made was from Nacho Monreal, as the Spaniard almost fired the ball into his own net. Other than one long pass straight to a Napoli player who had a very hopeful shot at goal, Cech had a solid game.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos 8

Sokratis played well again, and so far his Premier League suspension actually seems to be benefitting Arsenal. The Gunners won without him against Watford and he was allowed to rest up and come into this tie fresh. Hopefully, it’ll be the same story with the next two fixtures against Crystal Palace and Wolves.

Laurent Koscielny 8.5

Koscielny was the star of the Arsenal backline, and his importance to the defence can’t be understated at the moment. He made eight clearances, one interception, two tackles, made one block and won the only aerial duel he contested, hardly putting a foot wrong defensively throughout the performance.

Nacho Monreal 6

Monreal wasn’t involved in as many defensive actions as Koscielny and Sokratis, but he was better on the ball. His 77% pass accuracy doesn’t seem particularly impressive until compared to the 54% and 67% of his centre-back partners. It was just that kind of game, where Arsenal were happy to risk conceding possession to attempt counters.

Nonetheless, he was a little shaky when compared to the other two centre-backs, who were both excellent.

Midfield and Wing-Backs

Ainsley Maitland-Niles 8

Maitland-Niles continued his positive recent form with another solid performance against Napoli. He had the highest pass accuracy of any starter, and he completed the most dribbles too, effectively getting Arsenal further up the field. He also tracked back well, making a couple of tackles and a couple of interceptions, as well as four clearances.

Lucas Torreira 6

Torreira made four interceptions, but he had a very quiet game otherwise. Unlike the previous week when he was a pivotal part of Arsenal’s first-leg victory, he didn’t have a major role to play this time.

Granit Xhaka 8

Fortunately for Torreira, he had Xhaka alongside him picking up the slack on this occasion. The two seem to cover for each other very well, and this time it was the Swiss international controlling the game for Arsenal in possession whilst also providing excellent defensive cover.

It’s good to have the Swiss international back. His performances have almost gone a little underrated this season, but it’s hard to ignore when he helps Arsenal finish a tie off like this.

Sead Kolasinac 7

Kolasinac was perhaps a little wasteful, getting into a few dangerous advanced positions only to end up losing possession. Nonetheless, he still provided a consistent outlet going forward and did create one good chance for his efforts. He also had a lot of defending to do, covering Monreal, which he did well.

Front Three

Aaron Ramsey 7

Ramsey started the match impressively, making a couple of tackles and creating a chance in the opening half an hour. Unfortunately, he then suffered an apparent hamstring injury, which could keep him out for the rest of the Premier League season.

We’ll have to keep our fingers crossed that there’s a Europa League final for him to aim for, and one final match with Arsenal.

Alexandre Lacazette 8.5

Lacazette was typically hard working, chasing down lost causes and winning the ball back well on a couple of occasions. Most importantly, his free-kick was fantastic and completely changed the dynamic of the tie. He wrong-footed Alex Meret with an accurate and powerful set piece at just the right moment for Arsenal.

That was just the cherry on top of another positive performance from the striker in all of the things he did that so often go unnoticed, like his link-up play and his off-the-ball runs to create space.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 6

Aubameyang did have a few shots on target, and he should’ve converted at least one of them into a goal. He won a few aerial duels against Vlad Chiriches, but he lost every time he came up against Kalidou Koulibaly, which shouldn’t be any surprise. Overall, the striker could’ve made more of his opportunities, but it didn’t really matter this time.

Substitutes

Henrikh Mkhitaryan 7

Mkhitaryan ended up playing two-thirds of the match thanks to Ramsey’s injury, and it was a much better appearance than his poor showing against Watford. The 30-year-old was involved in the build-up of a few nice moves, including the one that resulted in Arsenal’s free-kick goal.

Mohamed Elneny 6

Elneny came on to do exactly what we’ve come to expect of him. He helped Arsenal keep possession in midfield, without misplacing a single one of his passes, but he didn’t really do much else, in terms of creating chances or contributing defensively.

Alex Iwobi 7

As soon as Iwobi came on he became the go-to out ball for Arsenal, as they just gave it to him to run upfield. He didn’t make a particularly large amount happen, particularly as the Gunners weren’t too keen to throw people forward to support him by that stage. Still, he played his role well.