Duarte strikes as Vitoria hold Arsenal in Europa League

Arsenal’s faltering form continued as a much-changed side limped towards the last 32 of the Europa League with a 1-1 draw at Vitoria Guimaraes on Wednesday.

Shkodran Mustafi’s header 10 minutes from time looked set to hand the Gunners a barely deserved three points and maintain their 100 per cent record in Group F.

However, Vitoria secured their first point in the group thanks to Bruno Duarte’s acrobatic stoppage-time equaliser. Arsenal remain well placed to reach the knockout stages as they top the group with 10 points from their first four games.

However, another underwhelming performance and result will do little to ease the mounting pressure on manager Unai Emery.

The Spaniard has been heavily criticised for a run of two wins in nine Premier League games, leaving them six points outside the top four, and Emery prioritised Saturday’s vital trip to Leicester with his starting line-up.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was named as Arsenal’s new captain on Tuesday after Granit Xhaka was stripped of that responsibility for his angry outburst towards the club’s fans when being substituted against Crystal Palace 10 days ago.

However, Aubameyang was not even included on the substitutes bench as Emery made eight changes from the side that started Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Wolves.

Vitoria came closest to scoring in the first half when Pepe smashed a long-range shot off the underside of the bar.

Arsenal had barely created anything of note but seemed set to get out of jail when Mustafi nodded home Nicolas Pepe’s free-kick to give the visitors the lead. But going behind summoned a response from the hosts who threw caution to the wind in the closing stages and were rewarded in the first minute of injury time.

Former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards was the creator as Arsenal failed to clear his cross before Duarte hooked home the loose ball with a bicycle kick.

Meanwhile, a second man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to trying to rob Arsenal stars Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac of their watches in a moped ambush.

Jordan Northover, 26, admitted trying to steal the expensive items from the Premier League footballers in northwest London on July 25, a court heard. Ashley Smith has already pleaded guilty to his role in the attempted raid involving Ozil, 31, and Kolasinac, 26. New CCTV footage released by the police shows Kolasinac standing beside his close friend Ozil’s gold-trimmed black Mercedes G class 4x4 before the two attackers pull up.

Despite being threatened with what appears to be a knife, the burly Bosnia defender remains unfazed. The full-back, nicknamed the “Tank”, then chases off the pair, who were disguised by helmets and dark clothing. German midfielder Ozil, remains in his vehicle with his wife Amine before speeding off and taking refuge in a Turkish restaurant after being pursued by the raiders.

Agence France-Presse