Arsenal turned on the style to ease past Slavia Prague and set up a Europa League semi-final tie against former head coach Unai Emery’s Villarreal.
With the tie finely-poised following a 1-1 home draw a week ago, the Gunners put in one of their best showings under Mikel Arteta to win 4-0 in Prague.
Nicolas Pepe opened the scoring as his fine Europa League campaign continues, with an Alexandre Lacazette brace and a Bukayo Saka strike more than enough to see them through.
Slavia were without Ondrej Kudela, the defender hit with a 10-game UEFA ban on the eve of the match having been found guilty of racially abusing Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara in their round of 16 clash.
But in truth they never looked like repeating their triumphs over Rangers or Leicester here as Arsenal now prepare for a reunion with Emery – who took them to the final of the Europa League in 2019 where they lost to Chelsea.
The clubs themselves also have history, Arsenal coming out on top in a close-run Champions League semi-final clash in 2006 before Wenger’s side fell to Barcelona in the final.
Arteta will be hoping to be the next man to take Arsenal into a European final but will want to go one better than their previous two, with the mouth-watering prospect of a meeting with Manchester United in Gdansk still a very real possibility.
