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

Arsenal and Atletico Madrid both took big strides towards the last four of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, as they each secured comfortable wins at home in the first leg of their respective quarter-final ties.

Arsenal produced a brilliant attacking display to beat CSKA Moscow 4-1, with Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette grabbing braces. Meanwhile, Atletico were far too good for Sporting CP, as they won 2-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano with Koke and Antoine Griezmann on the scoresheet.

Elsewhere, Lazio won a thriller 4-2 against Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig edged past Marseille 1-0 in Germany.

Here are the results from Thursday, as well as the updated odds to win the tournament and a recap of how these quarter-final matches panned out.

Thursday Results

Arsenal 4-1 CSKA Moscow

Atletico Madrid 2-0 Sporting CP

Lazio 4-2 Red Bull Salzburg

RB Leipzig 1-0 Marseille

Selected Tournament Odds

Atletico Madrid (11-10)

Arsenal (5-2)

Lazio (7-1)

RB Leipzig (8-1)

Figures in full are courtesy of Oddschecker.

Arsenal and Atletico in Total Control

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The first half of the game at the Emirates Stadium was as chaotic as they come, as Arsenal sought to put the tie to bed early on.

After Ramsey's ninth-minute opener, Aleksandr Golovin curled in a brilliant free-kick for the visitors and what may have been a crucial away goal six minutes later. But Arsenal were able to quickly re-establish control in the tie and produced a rampant spell of football.

Two goals from Lacazette, including a 23rd-minute penalty, sandwiched a stunner from Ramsey, who contorted his body and flicked a brilliant finish over Igor Akinfeev. As noted by Kieran Canning, in a week of brilliant goals this was among the best:

CSKA, meanwhile, were already looking leggy. Given this statistic provided by James Benge of the Evening Standard, that was no surprise:

The second half was a stroll for the Gunners, with Mesut Ozil proving especially impressive. Ramsey came close to grabbing his hat-trick too, but his effort from distance clattered off the post.

Atletico's start couldn't have been any better in the Spanish capital, as they needed only 23 seconds to go ahead through Koke.

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Diego Simeone's side were in charge then and after a mistake from Jeremy Mathieu, Griezmann was able to double their advantage five minutes before the break. As noted by OptaJose, the France international is in wonderful form at the moment:

After opening up a two-goal lead, defensive solidity was always going to be the order of the day for Atletico, as they shut up shop in an attempt to keep Sporting out. In the end, they did so with minimal fuss.

Arguably, the game of the evening was between Lazio and Salzburg, in which a late surge from the Serie A side pushed them to a 4-2 victory.

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Takumi Minamino's goal for Red Bull after 71 minutes made it 2-2 on the night in Rome, but Lazio were able to respond. And within five minutes, they had soared into a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Felipe Anderson and Ciro Immobile.

As noted by BBC Match of the Day, the Italian striker is having an incredible campaign domestically and in Europe:

In Germany, RB Leipzig did a professional job on Marseille, with striker Timo Werner's first-half goal giving the Bundesliga team the edge.

The Germany international has been in red-hot form this term and showcased how dangerous he can be on the break with a blistering run and finish at the end of a flowing counter-attack in the opening minute of first-half injury time. Marseille will be disappointed not to have snatched an away goal, though.