With a (2-1) victory over FC Zurich on Thursday night (September 8), Arsenal began their Europa League campaign successfully. Prior to the start of the second half, the players observed a minute of silence to honor The Queen’s passing.
After a sluggish start, the Gunners gradually gained momentum and took the lead in the 16th minute following a sweeping counterattack.
Eddie Nketiah’s pace allowed him to get around defense and cross for Marquinhos to score an impressive goal on his club debut.
Vieira and Granit Xhaka nearly added a second as Arsenal started to dominate, but three minutes before halftime, they gave up a careless penalty.
Fidan Aliti was ruled to have been fouled by Nketiah inside the box, and Mirlind Kryeziu scored with ease from the penalty spot to tie the score.
In order to make up for his earlier mistake, the 23 -year-old British-born Ghanaian headed in Marquinhos’ cross at the back post to score the game’s winning goal in the 62nd minute.
Players on the field and manager Mikel Arteta, who had a black armband on, had a subdued reaction to the winning goal because of the depressing news from Buckingham Palace.
