Kieran Tierney’s 17th minute goal was enough to separate the Gunners and FC Zurich in the Europa League group stage encounter at the Emirates Stadium in London. Mikel Arteta’s side held on for a win to secure the top spot in the group directly qualify for the round of 16 stage of the competition.
Arsneal would have been forced into the Europa League playoff round if they had finished second in their group behind PSV Eindhoven, who also secured all three points after beating FK Bodo/Glimt on Thursday night, but they ended up holding on to their first-half lead and securing all three points to go on top.
The hosts got their noses ahead at the Emirates when a loose ball fell to left-back Kieran Tierney at the top of the penalty box. He took his chance well for the game’s only goal, smashing a first-time shot past Zurich keeper Yanick Brecher at his far post to give Arteta’s men the lead inside 20 minutes.
Arsenal completely dominated the first 45 minutes of the contest and even outshot Zurich’s tally 12-4 and had spent most of their time in the opponent’s half. However, despite all of their efforts, they only had Tierney’s goal to show for the reward going into the break.
The Gunners also had several opportunities which they failed to convert later in the game and they nearly ended up paying for their failures to double their advantage.
Gabriel Jesus unwittingly kept out a goal-bound shot from teammate Fabio Vieira when it struck him a few yards out, with Brecher beaten. Zurich also found the back of the net from a rare foray further forward in the second half, but the goal was flagged offside as Adrian Guerrero had failed to properly time his run.
The visitors continued to frustrate the hosts and unnerve their supporters in the second half. They came inches close to an equaliser once again when Bohdan Viunnyk’s rocket from distance just missed the top-left corner 10 minutes before the end of regulated time.
In the end, Arsenal had done enough to hold them off and secure all three points to finish on top of their group, keeping PSV Eindhoven at second instead.
