Arsenal player ratings vs Olympiacos: Gabriel and Willian impress as Gunners secure crucial win in Athens

Arsenal took a huge step towards the quarter-finals of the Europa League by beating Olympiacos 3-1 in Athens in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

Here’s how Simon Collings rated Mikel Arteta’s side…

Bernd Leno 5

The German won’t want to see a replay of the Olympiacos goal as he and Dani Ceballos contrived to left the Greek side back into the match.

Hector Bellerin 7

Was solid defensively and looked better going forward. The Spaniard has been out of form recently but he looked better tonight.

David Luiz 6

Not at his best tonight and was almost caught out in the first-half when trying to play out from the back.

Gabriel 8 | Star man

Looking more and more like his old self and back to the player we saw at the start of the season. A strong performance capped off by scoring a brilliant header late on.

Kieran Tierney 7

One of Arsenal’s biggest attacking threats as he continually got down the left on the overlap. A decent performance during a frustrating game.

Thomas Partey 6

A solid display from the midfielder, who was neat and tidy but not spectacular. Taken off before the hour mark for Ceballos.

Granit Xhaka 7

A much better performance from the Switzerland international after his nightmare game against Burnley. Quiet and understated.

Bukayo Saka 6

Came in for some rough treatment from the Olympiacos defence, who brought him down before he could get going. A quiet night.

Martin Odegaard 7

Was having a difficult game but then turned things around with his goal. It was a sweet strike, but the goalkeeping left a bit to be desired.

Willian 8

One of the Brazilian’s best games. Linked up nicely with Tierney down the left flank and setup Gabriel’s goal with a great cross.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 6

Almost scored a header early on but was denied by a great save. Looked threatening every now and then, but a fairly quiet game for the captain.

Substitutes

Dani Ceballos (Partey 55’) 5

Had the ball knicked off him for the Olympiacos goal and struggled to get into the game after coming off the bench.

Mohamed Elneny (Willian 82’) 7

Off the bench and scored a huge goal in the tie by slapping one home into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

Emile Smith Rowe (Odegaard 82’) N/A

Nicolas Pepe (Saka 82’) N/A

Alexandre Lacazette (Aubameyang 88’) N/A

Subs not used: Hein, Ryan, Holding, Chambers, Mari, Cedric, Martinelli.