Aaron Ramsey’s strike and Kalidou Koulibaly’s own goal earned Arsenal a 2-0 home win against Napoli in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.
Ramsey finished off a stunning move to open the scoring and Lucas Torreira’s drive deflected in off Koulibaly to double Arsenal’s advantage before the break at Emirates Stadium on Thursday.
Serie A side Napoli struggled to impose themselves on the contest, although Lorenzo Insigne and Piotr Zielinski had big opportunities, and Carlo Ancelotti’s men have work to do in next week’s return.
Koulibaly made a superb pair of blocks to repel Ramsey and Ainsley Maitland-Niles but he could do nothing about Arsenal’s excellent opener in the 14th minute.
Arsenal’s dreadful away form means they can take nothing for granted ahead of their trip to Naples. Unai Emery’s side have won just twice away from home since November and those victories came against Huddersfield Town in the Premier League and Blackpool in the FA Cup. Napoli will surely be much better than in their limp London display, too.
