Europa League 2018: Scores, Odds After Thursday's Semi-Final Leg 1 Results

Marseille made the most of home comfort and are on course to feature in the UEFA Europa League final after beating Red Bull Salzburg in the semi-final first leg on Thursday, but Arsenal face an uphill struggle to qualify after drawing with 10-man Atletico Madrid.

Atletico were forced to play 80 minutes of their clash at the Emirates Stadium with 10 men after Sime Vrsaljko was shown two yellows within the first 10 minutes.

It took Arsenal until the 61st minute to open the scoring through Alexandre Lacazette, but Antoine Griezmann netted eight minutes from time to net the visitors a vital away goal.

Elsewhere, Florian Thauvin and substitute Clinton Njie scored to claim a commanding 2-0 win for Marseille in their first-leg clash against Red Bull Salzburg at the Stade Velodrome.

Read on for a recap of Thursday's semi-final first-leg results, as well as a look at the updated Europa League title odds, provided courtesy of Oddschecker.com.

Semi-Final 1st-Leg Results

Arsenal 1-1 Atletico Madrid

Marseille 2-0 Red Bull Salzburg

Europa League Title Odds

Atletico Madrid: 5-6

Marseille: 5-2

Arsenal: 4-1

Red Bull Salzburg: 14-1

Recap

If Arsenal fans were hoping for the Europa League to be Arsene Wenger's crowning glory before leaving the club in the summer, they may not feel as upbeat about winning the competition after Thursday's first leg.

On any other occasion, a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid might be a decent result but not after Vrsaljko's sending-off gave them a one-man advantage for 80 minutes. Sports writer Andy West summarised the task at hand:

It was on a night like this that Arsenal could have done with January signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang not being cup-tied considering just how dominant they were in terms of goalmouth action, per Squawka:

However, the scoreboard is ultimately the only statistic that matters, and the north Londoners have the unenviable task of chasing an away goal at Atleti, who will be favourites to make the final.

Atleti manager Diego Simeone, who was sent to the stands shortly after Vrsaljko's red card, was jubilant after Griezmann wrangled his way in to score what will likely be a telling away goal, via BT:

A series of defensive blunders allowed the Frenchman in, a story many Arsenal fans will be all too familiar with, and their last chance of a trophy under Wenger could be set to end in Madrid on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Marseille also absorbed their own share of pressure but ultimately came away with a 2-0 home win thanks to timely strikes from Thauvin and Njie.

In a way, their victory was the kind Arsenal should have tasted themselves, as commentator Kevin Hatchard highlighted the fine margins by which these fixtures are decided:

Salzburg failed to concede in two group-stage meetings with Marseille earlier this season but couldn't replicate the same steeliness at the the back on this occasion.

Former West Ham United star Dimitri Payet was at the centre of the home side's victory, supplying two assists to maintain his prolific impact in front of goal recently, per WhoScored.com:

Rudi Garcia's men lost 1-0 at the Stadion Salzburg in the pool phase but are showing vast improvement in the knockout stages and will seek to demonstrate that in Austria.