Hosam Aiesh becomes the first Palestinian to score in the Europa League

Östersunds- the plucky Swedish club that was on nobody’s radar two years ago- nearly pulled off the mother of all upsets at the Emirates Stadium last night.

Last week, Hosam Aiesh was an injury scratch as Arsenal made easy work of the Allsvenskan side in the Arctic circle. An 0-3 first leg score, featured a late penalty save from Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina leaving the Swedish minnows needing a miracle to progress to the Round of 16 of the Europa League.

That miracle seemed to be on the cards 24 minutes into the second leg- and the man to start the comeback? Hosam Aiesh.

The 22 year-old right winger showcased an array of skills and he opened  the scoring after exploiting the vacated space behind Bosnian wing back Sead Kolasinac.

Ken Sema would go on to double the score line 69 seconds later.
Aiesh, who has struggled with injury in the latter part of the 2017 Allsvenskan season, set three new records on the night. He became the first Palestinian player to score in the Europa Leauge, the first Palestinian to play in the Europa League knockout phase, and Palestine’s all time record appearance holder in the competition (469 minutes, 6 appearances). 
Earlier this season he became the first Palestinian to play in the Europa League group stage and the first Palestinian to assist on a goal in Östersund’s victory over Ukranian side Zorya. 
The fairytale story came to an abrupt end however with Sead Kolasniac scoring two minutes into the second half to put the match beyond all doubt. 
Aiesh was forced off after experiencing problems with a recurrent groin injury after 51 minutes of play but was rated as the third best player (7.63/10) on either side (behind Saman Ghodos and Ken Sema) by whoscored.com. 

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