Olympiakos coach Pedro Martins was not happy with Gabriel Magalhaes’ goal on Thursday, telling the club’s official website that Arsenal ‘influenced’ the referee during their first-leg 3-1 win.
13 months after Mikel Arteta’s side were knocked out of the Europa League by the Greek giants, they must have feared that history was about to repeat itself when Youssef El Arabi – the man who broke their hearts in February 2020 – struck again last night.
The experienced striker made Arsenal pay after Bernd Leno and Dani Ceballos combined to gift El Arabi a golden opportunity on the edge of their own penalty area.
But this Gunners side a more bullish and less brittle than they were in the dark days of 2020 and, during a hectic final ten minutes in Athens, appeared to put the tie to bed with two vital away goals.
Gabriel grabbed the first, finding the back corner with a towering header following a fine Willian cross – the winger’s fourth assist in four games.
According to Martins, however, Gabriel’s effort could – and perhaps should – have been ruled out after an Olympiakos defender flopped to the ground under pressure from the big Brazilian.
“I think the referee was influenced by the reactions of the Arsenal people in their second goal and in many situations, which were in the vast majority in their favour and changed the balance of the match,” fumed the former Vitoria Guimaraes coach.
“(The referee) should have analysed the goal more before taking the decision (to let it stand).”
Even in an era where a slight brush of the fingernail tends to constitute a foul, it would have been incredibly harsh to rule out Gabriel’s effort for what, in truth, looked like very minimal contact.
Long-range screamers from Martin Odegaard and Mo Elneny, coming either side of Gabriel’s soaring header, mean Arsenal can start preparing for the quarter-finals with a degree of confidence.
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