Paris: Pierre-Emerick Auba-meyang spearheaded Arsenal’s revival by scoring twice in a 3-0 win over Rennes to reach the Europa League quarterfinals 4-3 on aggregate, as Chelsea and Napoli also booked a last-eight spot on Thursday.
The Gunners cancelled out their 1-3 deficit from last week’s first leg in France inside 15 minutes as Aubameyang swept home from close range before teeing up Ainsley Maitland-Niles to head home.
However, Rennes had cause to complain as Aubameyang should have been flagged offside before the second goal.
Chelsea cruised into the last eight with greater ease. After a 3-0 victory in last week’s last 16, first leg at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea were even more dominant in Kiev as Olivier Giroud scored his first hat-trick for the club.
Giroud, who is yet to start in the Premier League in 2019 after the signing of Gonzalo Higuain, netted a first-half double, before Marcos Alonso slid home a third on the stroke of half-time.
Frenchman Giroud completed his hat-trick before teenage winger Callum Hudson-Odoi rounded off the scoring.
However, five-time winners Sevilla were beaten 4-3 after extra time to lose a thrilling tie against Slavia Prague 6-5 on aggregate.
