Arsenal’s Europa league campaign has hit the rocks, following the team’s woeful 3-1 away loss to French side, Rennes, on Thursday.
Arsenal got off to a great start via Alex Iwobi’s early opener within four minutes of the game, giving the team a superb advantage over the Julien Stéphan led French side.
All Arsenal had to do was build on their already established dominance over Rennes. However, the reverse was the case for the Gunners who were about to receive a good beating from the French side.
Play by Play
Unai Emery’s woes began when Sokratis Papastathopoulous was sent off for a series of bookable offences within four minutes to half time.
The team at 11-man, already had their hands full.
Now down one man, Rennes unleashed a massive strategy to demolish the Gunners, and it worked good.
Benjamin Bourigeaud evened the scores with only about three minutes left to half time.
With Arsenal still fighting to come back into the game, Nacho Monreal shot his team in the foot when he accidentally slot a cross into his own goal in the 65th minute, giving Rennes the lead.
The French team made sure to assert their dominance over Arsenal via Ismaila Sarr’s late header in the 88th minute, bringing the scores to 3-1 until the final whistle.
Emery will have to pull a stunner in order to move past Rennes when both teams collide again for the second leg of their Round of 16 tie at the Emirates Stadium next Thursday.
Rennes already have the upper hand and will be looking to maintain an unassailable lead when they travel to England.
Featured image source: Goal.com