Back to the Arsenal Newsfeed

Mikel Arteta reveals he delivered a 'now or never' half-time blast to his sloppy Arsenal side before they grabbed a precious away goal to leave their Europa League semi-final finely poised

Mikel Arteta revealed he made it clear to his Arsenal players they had to turn up in the second-half to keep their hopes of reaching the Europa League final alive following a narrow defeat in Villarreal.

The first leg of this semi-final clash appeared to be getting away from the Gunners as they fell 2-0 down, before Dani Ceballos was sent off just before the hour mark.

But Nicolas Pepe converted from the spot to send Arsenal home with a 2-1 deficit, and Arteta revealed the Gunners' dressing room was in a very different mood after the match compared to 45 minutes earlier, when the Spaniard had to rally his troops.