**Arsenal:** Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Rice, Zubimendi, Eze, Saka, Trossard, Gyokeres
**Subs:** Kepa, Ranson, Mosquera, Jesus, Martinelli, Norgaard, Madueke, Havertz, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman
Arsenal secured their place in the Champions League quarter finals after beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 (3-1 on aggregate) at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, thanks to goals from Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice.
Mikel Arteta made four changes to the side that beat Everton on Saturday with Ben White, Piero Hincapie, Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyokeres all coming into the team.
Jurrien Timber and Martin Odegaard missed out again through injury, although the bench still featured a number of strong options across the pitch.
**FIRST HALF**
It was an even start to the game with Leverkusen settling quickly, although Gabriel had the first sight of goal when he shouldered Bukayo Saka’s corner wide after it wasn’t dealt with properly by a defender at the near post.
Leandro Trossard was next to try his luck but dragged a shot wide on his left foot, before he forced Blaswich into a good save with another curling effort from the edge of the box.
Arsenal were starting to assert themselves after a bright start from the visitors and Gabriel threatened again from another Saka corner, but couldn’t quite get over his header with the goalkeeper in no man’s land.
The Gunners were totally dominant by this point and continued to build pressure with Saka forcing another save from Blaswich before a defensive mix-up saw him escape at the back post, before his cut-back found Trossard whose shot was saved again by the outstretched leg of the goalkeeper.
From the resulting corner, there was a goalmouth scramble after Arsenal worked the ball back to Trossard whose shot was saved again by Blaswich (who had seemingly embodied the spirit of Manuel Neuer), before some penalty box pinball ended up with Leverkusen clearing their lines instead of someone putting the ball in the net – and it really felt like a goal was coming.
Spoiler: with 36 minutes on the clock, a goal did come when Trossard found Eberechi Eze on the edge of the box, who spun and whacked an unbelievable strike into the top corner which flew past Blaswich before he had the chance to dive. [1-0](https://streamff.com/v/95094246).
It was a moment of brilliance from the 27-year-old who has a wonder goal in his locker, but this strike was from the top drawer and when you think about scoring your first Champions League goal – he couldn’t have imagined a better way to get it.
This was a really strong half from Arteta’s men who looked fast, fluid and could’ve been further up with some luck and better finishing against a goalkeeper having the night of his life.
**SECOND HALF**
Neither side made a change at half time but the game continued with Arsenal on top, and Trossard nearly scored a worldie of his own after collecting a long diagonal before cutting in and firing a brilliant effort towards the far post that flew inches wide.
Hincapie was inches away from making it 2-0 after smart play between Saka and Gyokeres, with the Swede firing a low ball across the six yard box that was well defended by Quansah who stopped what would’ve been a certain goal.
And with Leverkusen riding their luck, Declan Rice did grab a second after doing well to capitalise on a loose clearance from Grimaldo, before driving forward and caressing a beautiful finish into the bottom corner. [2-0](https://streamff.com/v/1b21de7b).
Shortly after the second goal, Arteta started to think about managing the game (and the cup final on Sunday) with Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Norgaard and Gabriel Martinelli replacing Ben White, Martin Zubimendi and Trossard.
Eze was also taken off and replaced by Kai Havertz after going down with an injury – hopefully that decision was inspired by pragmatism more than anything else more worrying.
It looked like the German made an instant impact – tapping in from close range – after Saka nodded across goal, but his celebration was strangely muted and replays showed he handled the ball into the goal and it was correctly ruled out by VAR.
With the clock ticking down, Leverkusen did enjoy some spells of possession and they were close to grabbing a goal back when Culbreath found Kofane in the box but his effort was brilliantly saved by an outstretched Raya.
This was another save to add to the collection which is already well-stocked from this season alone.
Referee Danny Makkelie eventually blew the full time whistle and Arteta will be delighted with his team’s performance; they were excellent from minute one and scored two brilliant goals to overpower Leverkusen who didn’t have enough.
They now face Sporting in the quarter-finals after their incredible turnaround against Bodo/Glimt and there’s a small issue of a Carabao Cup final to prepare for on Sunday – Wembley awaits.