Eze and Rice light up Emirates as Arsenal breeze past Bayer Leverkusen into quarters

[p]Following a sobering previous week for English sides in this competition, Mikel Arteta’s team were in a comparably enviable position heading into this second leg at the Emirates.[/p][p]With the aggregate score level at kick-off, they were eager to seize an early and potentially decisive advantage here. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/trossard-leandro/xUAbnjp2/"]Leandro Trossard[/a] had two early opportunities, as he dragged his shot wide before seeing a separate attempt pushed around the post by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/blaswich-janis/8WPrgkw2/"]Janis Blaswich[/a]. [/p][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bayer-leverkusen/4jcj2zMd/"]Leverkusen[/a] shot-stopper was certainly kept busy in a frantic first half, denying Trossard twice more and acting as a formidable last line of defence for Die Werkself.[/p][p][b]However, that defence was soon breached in emphatic fashion when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eze-eberechi/Stf4BYFn/"]Eberechi Eze[/a] unleashed an unstoppable right-footed strike from the edge of the box past Blaswich, scoring his first-ever UCL goal in some style.[/b][/p][image alt="Eberechi Eze's goal vs Bayer Leverkusen" id="3098810e-908e-4ec3-9761-89555c2abcde" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform (Reuters/Andrew Boyers)" guid="b530c8f7-b43b-4c5d-8c1b-4c320aecd6a1" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Trossard would have yet another opportunity to get his name on the scoresheet when his right-footed shot sailed a whisker wide of the far post, but it was [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rice-declan/zkQ8Cm6n/"]Declan Rice[/a] who doubled the lead for Arteta’s men with a very classy finish.[/p][p][b]The England midfielder strode into a central position just outside the box and curled a superb shot into the bottom corner. [/b][/p][p]Eze was looking for a second when he glided forward and cut inside onto his left foot, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/quansah-jarell/KtIpCeFE/"]Jarell Quansah[/a] was on hand to make a fine sliding block. However, with the former Crystal Palace forward carrying a knock, Arteta took no chances and replaced him with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/havertz-kai/rH8BZWiI/"]Kai Havertz[/a] heading into the final 20 minutes.[/p][p]It didn’t take the former Leverkusen forward too long to get involved in the thick of the action, having a goal disallowed for a foul on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tillman-malik/pGHnblVn/"]Malik Tillman[/a]. The visitors had a rare opportunity to reduce the deficit, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raya-david/nkVV0IXb/"]David Raya[/a] made a superb save to push away [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kofane-christian-michel/jk7yHyMk/"]Christian Kofane[/a]’s sliding effort.[/p][embed guid="529a3d7e-bc22-4f2e-bac1-5277bd30851a" url="https://x.com/Arsenal/status/2034024722174718173" social-type="twitter" /][p]This was a fine night’s work for a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Gunners[/a] side that can take the first step towards an unprecedented quadruple when they face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.[/p][p]Judging by the way in which they got the task done here with such ruthless efficiency, that objective is far from fanciful. A quarter-final meeting with Sporting now awaits, while Kasper Hjulmand’s side are left to focus on their battle to secure UCL qualification for next season when they face Heidenheim on Saturday.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eze-eberechi/Stf4BYFn/"]Eberechi Eze[/a] (Arsenal)[/b][/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="93f2d219-e9e0-4f4f-bc35-b5b92a74abbe" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="7712cb9e-3957-4506-8f6a-a4e1ed5c9519" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/arsenal-hA1Zm19f/bayer-leverkusen-4jcj2zMd/summary/stats/?mid=ETCJveIM"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]