London : Tomas Holes’ header in stoppage-time helped Slavia Prague secure a 1-1 draw away to Arsenal in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal on Thursday.
When the substitute Nicolas Pepe’s 86th-minute effort gave the hosts a narrow advantage to take to the Czech Republic for next week’s second leg, things looked better for the Reds. But Holes forced a header past Bernd Leno from a corner in the dying 93rd minute to deflate Arsenal and keep the tie balanced before the second leg.
Arsenal was guilty of wasteful finishing, as they failed to capitalise on a few good chances in an otherwise subdued game. Bukayo Saka’s curled effort went wide in the first half while Willian and Alexandre Lacazette were both denied by the woodwork for Mikel Arteta’s side in the final half.
Slavia, who defeated Leicester City and Rangers enroute to the quarter-finals, had their chances too. The substitute Petr Sevcik squandered a good chance to put them ahead while Lukas Provod had a shot turned against the woodwork just seconds before Holes equalised for them. Although the Gunners created plenty of chances, they looked fragile and lacked intensity until captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Pepe came on.
“The game was under control, we got the goal that we wanted, but then we played two or three balls in areas that we should not do and we put ourselves on the back foot,” he said.
“Obviously [the late goal] changes the feeling,” said Arteta after the match.
