Match ends, Napoli 0, Arsenal 1.
Napoli 0-1 Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette seals Europa League semi-final spot
- From the section European Football
Alexandre Lacazette's first-half free-kick eased Arsenal into the Europa League semi-finals as they completed a 3-0 aggregate victory over Napoli.
Lacazette's 25-yard effort flew into the top corner after the hosts enjoyed the better of the early chances.
Arkadiusz Milik had a goal ruled out for offside while Petr Cech saved well from Jose Callejon.
Arsenal are scheduled to host Valencia in the first leg of their semi-final on Thursday 2 May (20:00 BST).
In the end, it was a comfortable night's work for the Gunners as Unai Emery marked his 50th game as their manager.
Arsenal, who arrived at the Stadio San Paolo with a 2-0 lead from the first leg in London, could have doubled their margin of victory on the night but home goalkeeper Alex Meret superbly saved from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the break.
The only negative aspect of the evening for Arsenal was Aaron Ramsey hobbling off with a suspected hamstring injury.
The Wales midfielder was withdrawn in the first half and will be a doubt for the club's remaining fixtures before his summer move to Juventus.
Emery's tactical masterclass
When it comes to the Europa League knockout stages, Emery has an unequalled managerial record - 26 wins.
And his know-how from winning the tournament in three consecutive years (2013-14 to 2015-16) while manager of La Liga side Sevilla came to the fore in this second leg.
While the 2-0 advantage from the first leg at Emirates Stadium gave Arsenal room for manoeuvre, there were few thoughts of simply playing to contain their opponents.
Deploying a three-man defence allowed them to initially take the game to their hosts as Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Sead Kolasinac pressed forward and Lucas Torreira and Ramsey controlled proceedings in midfield.
Napoli did respond but Lacazette's goal signalled the end of the home pressure and settled any lingering Arsenal nerves.
It left Carlo Ancelotti's side needing to score four times and maintained the Gunners' record of scoring early on their travels - 16 of their past 18 away goals have been in the first half.
With the cushion of their away goal, Arsenal deployed men behind the ball in the second period, allowing Napoli possession but few chances - with Lorenzo Insigne's tame effort the hosts' only shot on target.
More to follow.
Line-ups
Napoli
- 1Meret
- 19MaksimovicSubstituted forMertensat 45'minutes
- 21Chiriches
- 26Koulibaly
- 31GhoulamSubstituted forMário Ruiat 71'minutes
- 7CallejónBooked at 90mins
- 5Marques Loureiro
- 20Zielinski
- 8Ruiz
- 99Milik
- 24InsigneBooked at 43minsSubstituted forYounesat 61'minutes
Substitutes
- 2Malcuit
- 6Mário Rui
- 9Verdi
- 14Mertens
- 23Hysaj
- 25Ospina
- 34Younes
Arsenal
- 1CechBooked at 74mins
- 5Papastathopoulos
- 6Koscielny
- 18Monreal
- 15Maitland-Niles
- 11Torreira
- 34XhakaSubstituted forElnenyat 61'minutes
- 31Kolasinac
- 8RamseySubstituted forMkhitaryanat 34'minutes
- 9LacazetteSubstituted forIwobiat 68'minutes
- 14Aubameyang
Substitutes
- 4Elneny
- 7Mkhitaryan
- 10Özil
- 17Iwobi
- 19Leno
- 20Mustafi
- 29Guendouzi
- Referee:
- Ovidiu Hategan
Match Stats
Home TeamNapoliAway TeamArsenal
- Possession
- Home70%
- Away30%
- Shots
- Home20
- Away7
- Shots on Target
- Home2
- Away4
- Corners
- Home9
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home6
- Away15
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Napoli 0, Arsenal 1.
Attempt missed. Fabián Ruiz (Napoli) left footed shot from the right side of the box is too high. Assisted by Mário Rui with a cross.
Corner, Napoli. Conceded by Laurent Koscielny.
Attempt missed. Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Arsenal) right footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the left is too high from a direct free kick.
Booking
José Callejón (Napoli) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by José Callejón (Napoli).
Sead Kolasinac (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Allan.
Foul by Fabián Ruiz (Napoli).
Lucas Torreira (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Amin Younes (Napoli) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal).
Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Vlad Chiriches.
Attempt missed. Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Fabián Ruiz with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Napoli. Conceded by Laurent Koscielny.
Offside, Arsenal. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tries a through ball, but Alex Iwobi is caught offside.
Corner, Napoli. Conceded by Sokratis.
Attempt blocked. Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Fabián Ruiz with a cross.
Corner, Napoli. Conceded by Lucas Torreira.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Lucas Torreira (Arsenal) because of an injury.
Attempt missed. Piotr Zielinski (Napoli) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by José Callejón.
José Callejón (Napoli) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Alex Iwobi (Arsenal).
Booking
Petr Cech (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card.
Attempt missed. Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Fabián Ruiz.
Substitution
Substitution, Napoli. Mário Rui replaces Faouzi Ghoulam.
Corner, Napoli. Conceded by Laurent Koscielny.
Substitution
Substitution, Arsenal. Alex Iwobi replaces Alexandre Lacazette.
Attempt missed. José Callejón (Napoli) right footed shot from the right side of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Fabián Ruiz following a corner.
Corner, Napoli. Conceded by Laurent Koscielny.
Attempt blocked. Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Faouzi Ghoulam.
Attempt missed. Faouzi Ghoulam (Napoli) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right.
Attempt missed. Vlad Chiriches (Napoli) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Dries Mertens with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Napoli. Conceded by Lucas Torreira.
Substitution
Substitution, Arsenal. Mohamed Elneny replaces Granit Xhaka.
Substitution
Substitution, Napoli. Amin Younes replaces Lorenzo Insigne.
Attempt saved. Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Piotr Zielinski with a through ball.
Attempt saved. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Lucas Torreira with a cross.
