Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (3-1 agg): Report, result and goals as Gunners cruise into quarter-finals
Catch up with all the action from Arsenal vs Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League
Arsenal booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a commanding performance at the Emirates, two goals of exceptional quality from Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice sealing a 3-1 aggregate win over Bayer Leverkusen.
The tie had been delicately poised after a 1-1 draw in Germany last week, but Arsenal set about the second leg with much more purpose and intent.
Leverkusen’s goalkeeper Janis Blaswich was the busier of the two stoppers in the opening half hour, repeatedly called upon to deny Trossard, Rice, Saka and Hincapie as Arsenal pressed for the breakthrough that the game increasingly deserved.
When it came, it was worth the wait. On 36 minutes, Trossard found Eze just ahead of the Leverkusen box. The midfielder took one touch to control, swivelled instantly and volleyed a searing effort high into the top-left corner past a helpless Blaswich.
Rice seals the tie
Leverkusen offered brief spells of encouragement in the second half, Kofane causing problems on the counter and Maza testing Arsenal’s defensive shape, but they never genuinely threatened David Raya’s goal.
Arsenal put the tie beyond doubt on 63 minutes. Leverkusen failed to clear their lines from a corner, the ball dropping to Rice on the edge of the box.
The England midfielder took one touch and finessed a composed, fading finish into the bottom-right corner, his third Champions League goal from distance this season and his eighth for the club from outside the box.
Kai Havertz thought he had added a third on 72 minutes, bundling home from close range, only for the effort to be ruled out for both a shove and a handball in the build-up.
Raya was tested late on, producing a fine reflex save to tip away Kofane’s stretched effort, but the result was never in serious doubt from the moment Rice’s finish hit the net.
The draw for the quarter-finals has already been made, and Arsenal will face Sporting, the side that completed their own remarkable comeback against Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night.