BATE passing amongst themselves with a lack of urgency that implies they have accepted their fate in this competition.
Dubajic and Xhaka get caught in a mild scuffle that will likely be the last action of this match.
90'
There will be two minutes of added time.
A bit of a scramble in the box as BATE try to clear the ball after a penetrating run by Aubameyang and they do eventually manage it.
87'
Xhaka attempts a long cross-field pass that is hit just a little too hard and Suarez, who was the intended target, can only watch as it bounces away and behind for a goal-kick.
85'
Aubameyang and Ozil play a delightful one-two that sees the former in space in the box, but the flag goes up on the Arsenal playmaker.
83'
Aubameyang stretches his legs on the right flank, beating a defender with pace before going down after minimal contact. The referee waves play on.
80'
Hleb plays a clever ball between two defenders up to Dubajic only to see the flag raise on the latter. Poor awareness there from the striker.
78'
Denis Suárez enters the game and replaces H. Mkhitaryan.
Here comes Denis Suarez for Arsenal's third change of the match. Mkhitaryan makes way.
77'
BATE work their way into the opposing half now. Rios is played behind the defence but the pass is a little too strong and he's forced to head it back into play which eventually results in a shot by Simovic that drifts just high and wide of the goal. That's better from the visitors.
75'
Volkov brings down Monreal outside of the box and concedes a dangerous free-kick to the hosts.
Minute
Description
74'
Play is slowing down now as the BATE legs tire and Arsenal seem content with their lead.
72'
B. Dubajić enters the game and replaces M. Skavysh.
Skavysh put forth a lot of effort today, but was unable to impact the scoreline and is now withdrawn for Dubajic.
71'
On the ensuing counter-attack, Aubameyang raced in on goal and tried to chip Scherbitski only to see his effort bounce harmlessly wide. He seems to have forgotten his shooting boots at home today.
70'
Rios pushes up from his right back spot to supplement the attack and plays the ball infield before Arsenal regain control.
67'
Ozil attempts a shot with the outside of his boot on the run and the German scuffs it wide and he chuckles in the aftermath.
66'
Can BATE pull off an incredible comeback, or will Arsenal be able to coast through to the next round. We'll find out together!
64'
E. Berezkin enters the game and replaces S. Dragun.
L. Torreira enters the game and replaces M. Guendouzi.
Another substitution from Arsenal as Guendouzi is removed with Torreira taking his place.
There will be no goalscoring heroics from Dragun today as he is replaced by Yevgeniy Berezkin.
63'
Stasevich is fouled by Mkhitaryan and it will be a free-kick to the visitors.
60'
S. Papastathopoulos has scored a goal for Arsenal! Assist by G. Xhaka.
Xhaka plays another inch-perfect cross form a corner, this time an in-swinger to Sokratis who applied the finish!
GOOALLLLL!!! Sokratis scores just minutes after coming onto the pitch! The corner was played in by Xhaka and Scherbitski tried to come out to claim it, but wasn't able to which allowed the Greek defender to climb, and nod the ball into an empty net! Arsenal 3-0 BATE
58'
A. Gleb enters the game and replaces D. Baga.
Cheers from both sets of fans as former Arsenal star Hleb comes on for Baga.
Iwobi played a fantastic cross all the way to Mkhitaryan at the backpost, but the latter was unable to direct his header on target and the chance goes wanting.
56'
S. Papastathopoulos enters the game and replaces L. Koscielny.
Here comes the first substitution of the match as Koscielny makes way for Sokratis.
55'
Skavysh involved again, this time fouling Monreal. You'd be forgiven for thinking the former was the only player in attack for BATE today.
53'
Skavysh is played down the line and shows a burst of pace, but he loses control of the ball and fouls Guendouzi trying to win it back.
51'
There's been a clear tactical shift from the visitors who are now playing a higher line and chasing down everything in sight. Can they make it count, or will Arsenal be able to survive this surge from BATE?
49'
Skavysh shows some tidy footwork in the box and gets off BATE's first shot of the half, but he scuffs it a bit and Cech is able to smother it.
47'
Monreal is found with a lofted ball into the box and attempts a first-time leaping shot of sorts that was as unconvincing as it was ineffective.
46'
The referee's whistle sounds once more, and play is back underway at the Emirates!
45' +1
HALF-TIME: Arsenal 2-0 BATE
45'
Skavysh goes down in a heap on the right-wing after seemingly coming into contact with Iwobi. The referee has seen nothing he deems as unfair play though and allows play to continue.
There will be one minute of added time.
39'
S. Mustafi has scored a goal for Arsenal! Assist by G. Xhaka.
GOOALLLLL!!!! ARSENAL MAKE IT TWO! Xhaka's corner found Mustafi on the run and the latter hammered his header past Scherbitski and into the back of the net! You can't perform a set-piece any better than that! Arsenal 2-0 BATE
From the corner, Xhaka delivered a beautiful curving right-footed cross into Mustafi that was perfectly weighted and only needed a touch which the big centre-back was more than willing to provide!
38'
Mkhitaryan puts his defender on skates, turning him twice before sending in a right-footed cross that is dealt with by the BATE defence.
32'
Beautiful play from Arsenal as Monreal surges up the left before playing an infield ball to Ozil who back feels the ball into the path of Xhaka! Unfortunately for Arsenal, the shot flies well above the BATE crossbar and it will be a goal-kick to the visitors.
31'
BATE finally get control of the ball in the opposing half, let's see if they can make anything of it.
27'
Ozil receives the ball in the box and tries to loft it to Aubameyang at the back post only for Volkov to outjump the striker and put it behind for a corner. It's been an all action performance from Volkov since his early own goal.
26'
Mkhitaryan gets played into space on the right before whipping in a quick cross that finds a bundle of BATE players rather than an Arsenal one.
24'
Filipenko gets fouled by Iwobi after the latter seemed to have broken through the backline and was in on goal.
22'
Aubameyang was making a run at the far post but Volkov was able to intercept the incoming pass before it turned into anything more concerning.
18'
Mkhitaryan attempted a header from inside the box, but it drifts well wide of the goal. He should have done better there!
16'
Ozil made his run just a little too early and sees the flag go up as he collected the through ball that Xhaka had played forward.
12'
The visitors making early use of the lobbed ball into the box as this one is directed towards Skavysh who is unable to beat his man to the ball. The defender did well to break that up as the pass initially seemed to be on.
9'
BATE finally get the ball down the Arsenal end through Skavysh who takes a quick shot from an acute angle that hits the side-netting. That's better from the visitors!
7'
Iwobi received the ball in the box and, with no one attempting to close him down, shaped his body and curled an effort towards the far corner only to see his effort fly wide of the post. Arsenal looking very, very dangerous thus far.
4'
Z. Volkov is unfortunate, scores an own goal!
GOOALLLL!!! Aubameyang picked up the ball out wide before crossing the ball into the box, Volkov gets a foot to it... and puts it into his own net! It's a horrible start for BATE who have already allowed Arsenal to pull level in the tie! Surely the visiting fans will be having flashes of the previous 6-0 loss at the Emirates. Arsenal 1-0 BATE
3'
All Arsenal in the early stages here as they get an early corner off of Volkov.
2'
For those wondering, Arsenal are wearing their typical red home kits with red sleeves, shorts, and socks while BATE wear all yellow.
Early chance for Arsenal as Lichtsteiner pushes up the right wing before crossing the ball into Iwobi. The latter took a touch to control the ball before shooting and then fired at goal but Scherbitski got his body behind it and made the save.
1'
Referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco blows his whistle, and this match is underway!
Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of this Europa League match between Arsenal and BATE!
Interestingly, neither of these clubs have played since the first leg of this tie last week with Arsenal no longer in the FA Cup and the Belarusian Premier League still a month away from the start of the 2019 campaign.
Now, let's take a look at the the players who will be involved in this match!
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Petr Cech; Stephan Lichtsteiner, Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal; Matteo Guendouzi, Granit Xhaka; Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mesut Ozil, Alex Iwobi; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Arsenal substitutes: Bernd Leno, Sokratis, Sead Kolasinac, Lucas Torreira, Aaron Ramsey, Denis Suarez, Eddie Nketiah.
BATE (4-2-3-1): Denis Scherbitski; Aleksey Rios, Zakhar Volkov, Egor Filipenko, Aleksandar Filipovic; Slobodan Simovic, Stanislav Dragun; Nemanja Milic, Dmitri Baga, Igor Stasevich; Maksim Skavysh.
BATE substitutes: Anton Chichkan, Hervaine Moukam, Evgeni Berezkin, Aleksandr Nemirko, Bojan Dubajic, Evgeni Yablonski, Alyaksandr Hleb.
The teams are lined up as the Europa League anthem rings around the Emirates. Not long to go now!
It will be interesting to see how Arsenal set up for the second-half. They have the overall lead now and it would perhaps be wise for them to play a little more defensively to ensure their progression to the next round. That certainly has not been the case thus far though as they have pushed forward for more goals which, if they score them, will put this tie to bed, but they will need to be careful as they have been fairly open at the back when BATE have managed to get a hold of the ball and push on the counter-attack. If the visitors do score early in the second-half, things would certainly get interesting!
That will do it for our live coverage of this Europa League match between Arsenal and BATE! We hope you enjoyed following along, and will join us again soon!
Arsenal will hope this win will translate into momentum against Southampton and Charlie Austin who has had a habit of scoring goals against the Gunners throughout his career. A win on Sunday could actually push them back into the top four if Manchester United drop points against Liverpool on the same day. As for BATE, they will face Dinamo Brest in the Belarusian Super Cup on March 2nd before waiting until the end of the month to begin the 2019 domestic campaign in which they will try to win their 14th consecutive title.
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