Arsenal have had somewhat of a mixed start under Unai Emery.
The Gunners did go on a 22-match unbeaten run across all competitions earlier in the season.
However, Arsenal find themselves 5th in the Premier League and out of both domestic cups.
So, Emery’s last shot at silverware this season is the Europa League, a competition he has won previously with Sevilla.
https://twitter.com/ATG_Official/status/1096133325020975106
As a result, you would have expected Arsenal to be at 100% when facing BATE on Thursday, especially given they have no game this weekend as they are out of the FA Cup.
Unfortunately for Arsenal fans, their side went 1-0 down in the 45th minute and were unable to recover.
Arsenal now have it all to do in the return leg on February 21st.
As well as losing to lesser opposition, Arsenal also lost Alexandre Lacazette after the Frenchman was shown a red card in the 85th minute.
Letting the team down like that is the worst feeling..
I should have stayed calm but it’s not always easy.. Sorry 😣
There are still 90 minutes to play and I believe that my teammates will make it to the next round.. #COYG #Laca— Alexandre Lacazette (@LacazetteAlex) February 14, 2019
After being shown a straight red, Unai Emery was not particularly happy with Lacazette in his post-match comments.
The Arsenal forward has since taken to Twitter to apologise for his actions:
“Letting the team down like that is the worst feeling.. I should have stayed calm but it’s not always easy…Sorry.
“There are still 90 minutes to play and I believe that my teammates will make it to the next round..”