Following today’s clash between Ostersunds FK and Arsenal, here are the instant reactions from both managers.
Ostersunds FK hosted Arsenal at the Jamtkraft Arena in the Europa League for a 6pm kick off on Thursday February 15, with the visitors taking a three nil victory to more than gain the advantage in the first leg affair of the final 32 clash.
Nacho Monreal gave Arsenal the lead in the 13th minute before a Sotirios Papagiannopoulos own goal doubled their advantage as he deflected Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s cross into the back of his net.
The hosts improved after the break but any hopes of a comeback where ended by Mesut Ozil just ahead of the hour mark. Ostersunds did see a late penalty saved by David Ospina.
The second leg takes place at the Emirates Stadium next Thursday with an 8.05pm kick off.
Teams:
Ostersunds FK:
Keita, Mukiibi, Papagiannopoulos, Pettersson, Widgren (Bergqvist 73), Edwards, Mensah, Nouri (Tekie 45), Sema, Ghoddos, Abdullahi Gero (Hopcutt 45).
Substitutes:
Aiesh, Andersson, Sonko Sundberg, Islamovic.
Arsenal:
Ospina, Bellerin, Chambers, Mustafi, Monreal (Kolasinac 73), El Neny, Maitland-Niles, Ozil, Mkhitaryan (Nelson 84), Iwobi, Welbeck (Nketiah 74).
Substitutes:
Holding, Xhaka, Macey, Willock.
Speaking to the BBC’s cameras a short time after match day referee Jose Fernandez Borbalan blew the final whistle, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger explained.
‘We did the job well, controlled the ball against a good side. They beat Hertha Berlin here, 2-2 against Athletic Bilbao, so they are a quality team. But once we scored the first goal we were in control. Overall we played a serious game, so job done. They looked very nervous and we took advantage of it. I think the young players in the team played well in the group stages, so they will be kept in the squad and I’ll continue to try and give them minutes when I can.’
Ostersunds manager Graham Potter in his comparative interview explained.
“It was a difficult start, we weren’t ourselves, we were too deep, too short. We could have gone under in a big way against their quality but we didn’t. We showed what we were about in the second half, it is a shame we didn’t score the penalty but I’m most proud of how the players responded. Arsenal are rightly one of the favourites. They’ve left a few players at home and they still had World Cup winners on the pitch, talent all over and technically good level. They are clearly the best team we’ve faced.”
