BATE Borisov defeated Arsenal 1-0 in the first leg of Europa League’s round-of-32. Interestingly, they celebrated the win with a burger breakfast!
BATE Borisov beat Arsenal 1-0 in the round-of-32 of the Europa League last night. Stanislas Drahun scored the sole goal in the 45th minute of the game as Arsenal aim for a comeback in the second leg.
Unai Emery’s side was criticised for a disappointing performance in the game. The decision to not play Mesut Ozil didn’t go down well with the Gunners’ fans again, and they’ve called for Emery to make peace with the midfielder.
This was BATE’s first game in over two months as their league season ended in December. The club lifted the Belarusian Premier League title with 73 points in 30 games.
The players celebrated their shock victory over Arsenal in style.
Football London’s journalist Chris Watts found the club’s players, including Aleksander Hleb stuffing burgers at the Burger King at 8 AM.
Nothing rubs salt into the wounds more than sitting next to Alex Hleb and the BATE team while they celebrate beating Arsenal by wolfing down a Double Whopper meal at 8am pic.twitter.com/7DOW4XYsXE
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) February 15, 2019
Hleb has formerly played for Arsenal between 2005 and 2008. He appeared in 89 league games for the side, scoring seven goals. The attacking midfielder left the London club for Barcelona.
The Belarusian domestic season is yet to start, which means BATE Borisov’s next competitive match will also be against Arsenal. The team will travel to London to defend their lead in the second leg.
Not the result we wanted, but we still can do it in the 2nd leg and reach the next round! Let’s bounce back at the Emirates especially for our fans ⚽👊🏼 #COYG 🔴⚪ #M1Ö #BATARS #UEL @Arsenal
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) February 14, 2019
We really miss Ozil. Whatever the problems I really hope the management sort it out. We are suffering because of poor decision making and we need our best players to play every match. pic.twitter.com/5qhHsSV5RN
— P™ (@Cechque) February 14, 2019
Arsenal’s goalkeeper Petr Cech stated after the game that the side wouldn’t have scored even if they played for ‘another couple of hours’.
“Yesterday it was one of those games where if we played for another couple of hours probably we wouldn’t have scored.
But there are games in football like that. You try, you play, the goal does not arrive and you have to go home with the result you don’t want but you have to pick yourself up and be ready for the second leg.
We wasted the best years of Ozil and Sanchez with shit forwards, now we’re wasting the best years of Laca and Auba with a shit system and midfield. #ArsenalThat
— Lacompactdisc (@Lacompactdisc) February 14, 2019
Surely now it’s time for Ozil? Emery’s vision for the future is a hard sell when it looks like this. #afc can bounce back but when they lack creativity, recalling Ozil is in the best interests of all concerned. From Belarus after BATE 1-0 #afc: https://t.co/VLLk9Zp3Ob
— James Olley (@JamesOlley) February 15, 2019
“This is the advantage of playing two-legged ties – when one game goes wrong you can always make up for it.”
