Unai Emery warned Arsenal to expect a strong response from Napoli after his side seized the initiative with a 2-0 win in their Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday (Apr 11). Emery's men took control of the tie with a dominant first-half performance at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal's Europa League quarter-final tie with Napoli is "still 50-50" according to Gunners boss Unai Emery, despite his side winning the first leg 2-0 at Emirates Stadium.
Aaron Ramsey converted Ainsley Maitland-Niles' pass to finish off a good team move and give the hosts the lead. Kalidou Koulibaly then scored an own goal when he deflected Lucas Torreira's shot past goalkeeper Alex Meret. The impressive Meret stopped the Gunners winning by more.
Napoli, who are second in Serie A, host the Gunners in the second leg next Thursday at the San Paolo Stadium.
"The first leg was very important to take a good result," said Emery. "We deserved to win, but we know it is going to be very difficult there.
"Their performances at home are usually very strong. We will plan to win the match, but we need to have a lot of respect for them. It is still 50-50. Our challenge is to be competitive away. Sometimes away we lose the spirit we have at home."
Napoli boss Carlo Ancelotti said he is still "confident" of progressing to the last four.
"The result is difficult to change but we have 90 minutes left," the Italian said.
- Source: News websites
