Arsenal edge Valencia 3-1 as Chelsea hold Eintracht Frankfurt in Europa League

Arsenal took a step towards qualifying for the final of the Europa League as the team defeated Valencia 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium in Thursday’s first leg semi-final.

The Gunners were given an early scare when Mouctar Diakhaby scored the opening goal of the tie in the 11th minutes with a placed finish before Alexandre Lacazette levelled parity for the host in the 18th minutes.

However, the France forward netted his brace in the 26th minutes with a sublime header to the delight of team’s manager, Unai Emery before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted the third goal.

The victory gives Arsenal two goals advantage as the team visit Spain next week Thursday for the second leg tie.

In the other fixture, Chelsea played out a 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Commerzbank-Arena in the first leg semi-final on Thursday.

The host took the lead through Luka Jovic in the 23rd minutes before Pedro silenced the vociferous home supporters with a well-placed goal to earn Chelsea a vital away goal ahead of the second leg at Stamford Bridge.