Europa League semi-finals: Blues, Arsenal in strong positions

London: The possibility of an all-English final in the Europa League grew likelier after Arsenal and Chelsea moved into strong positions in the semi-finals on Thursday.

Arsenal will take a 3-1 lead into the second leg against Valencia after coming from behind through two goals by France striker Alexandre Lacazette and a 90th-minute volley from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Emirates Stadium.

Chelsea also rallied to earn a 1-1 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt, with Pedro Rodriguez scoring the potentially crucial away goal in Germany to extend his team's unbeaten run in the competition to 16 games — a record.

Neither Arsenal nor Chelsea is guaranteed a top-four finish in the Premier League, which earns automatic qualification for next season's Champions League. Winning the Europa League also offers that reward, which is why the teams have taken the competition seriously.

The final is in Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 29.

It had previously been a disappointing week in Europe for English clubs, with Tottenham and Liverpool losing the first legs of their Champions League semifinals against Ajax (1-0) and Barcelona (3-0), respectively.

A three-time winner of the competition with Sevilla, Unai Emery is on course for another Europa League final in his first season at Arsenal.

He has his lethal strike partnership to thank for that.

The potency of Lacazette and Aubameyang continues to make up for Arsenal's weakness at the back, which was exposed again when Valencia took the lead off a corner in the 11th minute.

A delivery to the far post was headed back across the face of goal by Rodrigo, and Mouctar Diakhaby rose above Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka to nod in from close range.

Arsenal has been saving its best performances for the Europa League of late — back-to-back wins over Napoli in the quarter-finals were followed by three straight losses in the Premier League — and the English team hit back almost immediately through Lacazette in the 18th.

He played in Aubameyang with a superb through-ball and was then on hand to receive a squared pass from his fellow striker to stroke the ball into an empty net from the edge of the area.

Lacazette made it 2-1 eight minutes later when his header from Xhaka's first-time cross could only be palmed over the goal line by Valencia goalkeeper Neto.

Lacazette missed out on a hat trick by wasting two clear-cut chances in the second half, but Aubameyang gave Arsenal a two-goal cushion heading into the second leg next Thursday by volleying home at the far post from Sead Kolasinac's floated cross.