Slavia Prague of Czech Republic striker, Peter Olayinka turned up as a major culprit in his side’s inability to defeat Arsenal of England in their UEFA Europa League quarter-finals first leg fixture on Thursday, megasportsarena.com reports.
Despite putting up a brilliant performance and getting into promising goals’ scoring positions for the visitors, Olayinka failed to make his efforts count in either half, even as his side ended up getting a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw.
A place in the semi-finals was there for the taking, but Olayinka and his teammates failed to make their efforts count in a game that also saw their opponents struggle in front of goal, as Arsenal fluffed their lines in what turned out to be an error-strewn game at Emirates Stadium.
While Olayinka and his colleagues from Prague could not utilise their chances, The Gunners also failed to take advantage, with Bukayo Saka, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all guilty of missing gilt-edge chances.
Olayinka started and put in an 85-minute shift before making way for Ibrahim Traore, while Arsenal’s Spanish-Nigerian midfielder Miguel Azeez watched proceedings from the bench for the entirety of the game.
In the 36th minute, Olayinka, whose side had earlier accounted for the exits of Leicester City of England and Glasgow Rangers of Scotland with their array of Nigerian players, had Slavia’s first effort on goal from the edge of the box but it was comfortable for Bernd Leno who saved his shot.
Following a goalless first half, The Gunners had to wait until the 86th minute before breaking the deadlock via Nicolas Pepe, as the Ivory Coast star, who got off the bench in place of Saka in the 77th minute, raced into the box before lifting the ball over the oncoming goalkeeper.
However, the lead was erased in the fourth minute of added time as Tomas Holes netted with a header at the far post after Arsenal were unable to deal with a corner, giving advantage to layinka’s side heading into the second leg at Sinobo Stadium in Praha next Thursday.
