Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat trick as Arsenal beat Valencia 4-2 on Thursday and 7-3 on aggregate in their Europa League semifinal.
Despite trailing the first-leg 3-1, Valencia got back in the overall contest 10 minutes in after Gameiro came in at the back post to finish beyond Cech and give his team the lead.
Arsenal pulled one back just six minutes later when Aubameyang finished off a lovely half-volley from a Lacazette’s pass.
A bright opening from Valencia forced them back to were back to square one but kept pushing forward close to halftime as they peppered the Arsenal goal. Lacazette nearly put Arsenal in the lead before the break, but his shot from and Aubameyang cross clipped the outside of the near post and went wide as the teams went to the dressing room tied 1-1.
In the second half Lacazette was able to curl one past Neto early on to give the Gunners a 2-1 lead(5-2 on aggregate). Gameiro popped up with his second goal to give Valencia a glimmer of hope of a come back, but the heroics of the last two nights games were not to be repeated. Arsenal stayed strong and Aubameyang was able to add a third and fourth to seal the impressive 7-3 aggregate victory over two legs.
Aubameyang’s second put the tie away in the 69th minute when he beat his marker to an Ainsley Maitland-Niles cross at the near post to give the visitors the lead and a third away goal. And the Gabon international finished off a fine team move for his third as full-time approached to complete his hat trick and book a spot in the Europa League finals
Emery, who won the trophy three times in succession with Sevilla between 2014 and 2016, will be hoping to cap off his first season in England with a trophy in Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 29.
