Nigeria's Iwobi praised despite Arsenal loss to Chelsea in Europa League final

Nigeria and Arsenal forward, Alex Iwobi, scored a consolation goal as his club lost Wednesday’s UEFA Europa League final to fellow English club Chelsea.

Iwobi’s stunning strike earned him praise from fans that were otherwise disappointed by Arsenal’s poor showing that will see them miss out on playing in the elite Champions League for a third consecutive season.

Iwobi legit created 4 goal scoring chances after his goal. Every touch and passes to perfection.

He deserves better than this Arsenal

— John Etienne (@iamJohnEtienne) 29 mai 2019

? Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal ?

But goal of the game so far HAS to go to Iwobi. Booom ? #CHEARS
pic.twitter.com/MRS4SAkNJ0

— Football Eclipse (@FootballEclipse) 29 mai 2019

We’ve conceded 4 goals in a European final. Our 350,000 a week playmaker has made less passes than our whole back 4. We’ve had 1 shot on target in 78 minutes and it was from a rare Iwobi wonderstrike. Embarrassing performance. #AFC #UELfinal

— Gunners.com (@Gunnersc0m) 29 mai 2019

How Chelsea won

Eden Hazard and Olivier Giroud tore apart Arsenal in the space of 23-second half minutes to give Chelsea a 4-1 to win in the Europa League final.

Against the backdrop of many empty seats in faraway Azerbaijan, Chelsea took control of the London derby in the 49th minute when Giroud met Emerson’s pass with a diving header into the net.

Chelsea took the lead in the 49th minute through Olivier Giroud’s 11th goal of the competition.

The striker got ahead of Laurent Koscielny to steer Emerson’s cross past Cech with a perfectly-placed header.

The Blues doubled their advantage 10 minutes later when Pedro swept in a sublime first-time finish.

And it was 3-0 in the 65th minute as Eden Hazard stepped up to send Petr Cech the wrong way from the penalty spot.

But the Gunners hit back almost immediately thanks to a stunning strike from substitute Alex Iwobi.

Chelsea’s win denied victory to African players Pierre Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon) and Mohamed El Neny (Egypt) who play for Arsenal.

READ MORE: African links in Arsenal vs. Chelsea duel in Baku