Arsenal struggled Thursday evening in Barysaw, Belarus. Losing 1-0 to BATE Borisov and failing to grab an all-important away goal could come back to bite the Gunners in the second leg of the Europa Leaague Round of 32.
To make matters worse, Arsenal will have to play the second leg without Alexandre Lacazette.
Arsenal's last nine away games across all competitions:
DLDLWLLWLThose two wins came against Huddersfield and Blackpool. pic.twitter.com/eXAVgD4Erh
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 14, 2019
After starting the match well, Arsenal’s sharpness slowly turned into complacency.
Arsenal created more than double the chances that BATE did and tripled the number of passes. The Gunners dominated the possession, with BATE happy to sit back and eventually break once the ball turned over.
BATE’s one big chance of the match, it took. Just before halftime, a set-piece on the right wing was swung in by Igor Stasevich and found the head of man-of-the-match Stanislav Dragun, who guided the ball into the far corner of the net.
BATE with a HUGE goal to take the lead against Arsenal
Watch live: https://t.co/b0CGgZcBL6 pic.twitter.com/3UMYSX21PN— Bleacher Report Live (@brlive) February 14, 2019
The rest of the match, BATE continued to defend well and frustrate the Gunners.
After former Arsenal man Aleksandr Hleb left the pitch, Unai Emery played his final cards. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Lucas Torreira and Denis Suarez all came on but could not provide the breakthrough.
BATE sunk deeper and deeper into its own half but had a few chances to go forward after interceptions, but exhaustion took its toll and any chances for a second goal were quashed.
The headline of the match came in the 85th minute, when a frustrated Lacazette threw an elbow into Aleksandar Filipovic’s face after a tough challenge on the ball.
Lacazette is sent off pic.twitter.com/u2B5UgaIjo
— Bleacher Report Live (@brlive) February 14, 2019
After the Frenchman received his walking orders, BATE defended well against a slew of possession football from the Gunners in its own half.
Minimum three windows before judging Emery, please. He just needs time and support to beat BATE Borisov with a full-strength team.
— Lewis (@LGAmbrose) February 14, 2019
BATE fans should be pleased with this result, especially because the Belarusian club played its last competitive game in December.
Arsenal disappointed Thursday evening and looked rather blunt in attack.
BATE Borisov were massive underdogs heading in, but they've defeated Arsenal 1-0 in Leg 1 pic.twitter.com/3sYYDP9Mxf
— Bleacher Report Live (@brlive) February 14, 2019
BATE travels to London in one week for the second match of the tie on Feb. 21. While the score line is a setback for Arsenal, the Gunners are more than capable of overturning the deficit.
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