Arsenal cruised to victory in their Europa League quarter-final against Slavia Prague to set up a reunion with former manager Unai Emery in the final four.
Any worries Gunners fans had going into the second leg were soon put to bed thanks to three quick first-half goals from Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette and Bukayo Saka.
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It was a marked contrast to the first leg, that ended 1-1 at the Emirates, as they eased to a 5-1 aggregate win with Lacazette grabbing his second in the second half.
Their route to the final involves a clash against Emery’s Villarreal in the semi-final.
The Czech side had very much been in the headlines in the lead up to the game after defender Ondrej Kudela was slapped with a ten game ban for racially abusing Rangers star Glen Kamara.
The Slavia players did not take the knee before the game, instead choosing around the centre circle. Arsenal striker Lacazette defiantly stared down his opponents before kick-off.
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Arsenal thought they had grabbed an early away goal, only for Smith Rowe to have the effort ruled out for offside by VAR.
Bukayo Saka cut in from the right and saw his shot turned against the post with Smith Rowe on hand to tuck in the rebound, but a lengthy review struck off the goal.
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Moments after the restart the visitors got their much deserved goal.
Smith Rowe slid in a pass to Nicolas Pepe, who held off a defender and squeezed in the opener.
Arsenal turned the tie well in their favour by adding a second goal three minutes later.
Jakub Hromada fouled Saka in the box and Alexandre Lacazette made no mistake in converting the resulting penalty.
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Slavia were clearly rocked and Arsenal extended their lead further still with only 24 minutes on the clock.
Saka, as he had in the lead up to Smith Rowe’s earlier offside effort, cut in and this time sent his shot into the near post to put the Gunners 3-0 ahead on the night.
The second half was a change of pace from the first with Slavia bringing on four players at the break in the hope of turning things around.
Arsenal played a sensible game, keeping the ball while also creating chances.
They completely killed off the tie with a little under 15 minutes remaining, Lacazette picking up a pass from Pepe before showing fine composure and tucking away his second of the evening, putting the visitors 5-1 ahead on aggregate.
A meeting with Villarreal awaits in the next round where they will face their former manager for a place in the final.
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