Slavia Prague 0-4 Arsenal (1-5 on agg): Gunners reach Europa League semi-finals

Arsenal impressively swept aside Slavia Prague to reach the Europa League semi-finals with a fine away victory in the second leg.

They scored three goals in the opening 24 minutes and had another ruled out by the video assistant referee - all-but ending the contest in the opening period.

Nicolas Pepe squeezed home at the near post to open the scoring in the 18th minute before Alexandre Lacazette converted a penalty three minutes later following a foul on Bukayo Saka.

Saka coolly swept in the third as Arsenal tore their Czech opponents apart once more.

Mikel Arteta's side controlled the game expertly thereafter and Lacazette smashed his second low into the net in the latter stages.

The Gunners will face Villarreal - managed by former Arsenal boss Unai Emery - in the last four.

Manchester United meet Roma in the other semi-final after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side comfortably saw off Granada.

• Reaction to Arsenal's victory over Slavia Prague

Rampant Arsenal keep season going

This was Arsenal's biggest game remaining this season - with a Europa League win in May their only realistic way of securing Champions League football next season given their league position.

Had they lost, their campaign would have effectively been over. Instead they breathed life into its final two months.

Their wastefulness in the first leg left the tie in the balance but in Prague, where their hosts had not lost for more than a year, they were supremely clinical.

Spurred on by the guile and energy of Emile Smith Rowe, they scored three goals from five first-half shots - doing so without their captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, who revealed shortly before kick-off he has contracted malaria.

Slavia had already knocked Leicester and Rangers out of this year's competition but at half-time they resorted to substituting four key players, seemingly an acceptance the tie was over.

It is 25 years since Arsenal failed to qualify for Europe and this win ensured they can extend that run.

A meeting with Emery, who took Arsenal to the Europa League final in 2019 and won the tournament three times as manager of Sevilla, awaits.

Arsenal's best performance of the season?

It is little surprise that this performance came with Smith Rowe and Saka - the two shining lights of Arsenal's inconsistent season - reunited in the attacking line.

Smith Rowe, a doubt for the game with an ankle injury that kept him out of the weekend's win over Sheffield United, had put Arsenal ahead in the 14th minute when he turned in the rebound after Saka's rasping shot was turned on to the post but he was narrowly judged to be offside.

It was the 20-year-old playmaker, however, who showed delightful feet to tee up Pepe for the opener moments later.

He then played in Saka whose driving run was unfairly halted by the sliding Jakub Hromada, resulting in the second goal from the penalty spot.

Saka took the spotlight soon after, driving off his flank once more and finding the bottom corner while Lacazette was clinical with his spot-kick and assured second-half finish.

Pepe, too, a player often criticised during his time at Arsenal, impressed on the left. He now has five goals and four assists in this year's competition.

It will also please Arteta how Arsenal managed the game with a defensive solidity not seen at times this season.

More to follow.

Player of the match

SakaBukayo Saka

with an average of 8.54

• Slavia PragueSlavia PragueSlavia Prague
• ArsenalArsenalArsenal

Slavia Prague

Avg

1. Squad number1Player nameKolar

   Average rating

   4.06
2. Squad number5Player nameBah

   Average rating

   3.75
3. Squad number3Player nameHoles

   Average rating

   3.66
4. Squad number9Player nameOladeji Olayinka

   Average rating

   3.65
5. Squad number16Player nameKuchta

   Average rating

   3.54
6. Squad number7Player nameStanciu

   Average rating

   3.53
7. Squad number6Player nameZima

   Average rating

   3.52
8. Squad number23Player nameSevcik

   Average rating

   3.50
9. Squad number18Player nameBoril

   Average rating

   3.48
10. Squad number17Player nameProvod

    Average rating

    3.46
11. Squad number25Player nameHromada

    Average rating

    3.44
12. Squad number41Player nameVišinský

    Average rating

    3.29
13. Squad number19Player nameDorley

    Average rating

    3.15
14. Squad number28Player nameMasopust

    Average rating

    3.14
15. Squad number32Player nameLingr

    Average rating

    3.05
16. Squad number11Player nameTecl

    Average rating

    2.94

Arsenal

Avg

1. Squad number7Player nameSaka

   Average rating

   8.54
2. Squad number32Player nameSmith Rowe

   Average rating

   8.43
3. Squad number9Player nameLacazette

   Average rating

   8.19
4. Squad number19Player namePépé

   Average rating

   8.15
5. Squad number35Player nameGabriel Martinelli

   Average rating

   7.59
6. Squad number21Player nameChambers

   Average rating

   7.58
7. Squad number18Player namePartey

   Average rating

   7.57
8. Squad number16Player nameHolding

   Average rating

   7.46
9. Squad number34Player nameXhaka

   Average rating

   7.45
10. Squad number8Player nameDani Ceballos

    Average rating

    7.37
11. Squad number22Player nameMarí

    Average rating

    7.35
12. Squad number38Player nameBalogun

    Average rating

    7.18
13. Squad number17Player nameCédric Soares

    Average rating

    7.18
14. Squad number1Player nameLeno

    Average rating

    7.05
15. Squad number25Player nameMohamed Elneny

    Average rating

    7.05
16. Squad number30Player nameNketiah

    Average rating

    6.84