Arsenal beat Napoli 2-0 in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal tie on Thursday.

Aaron Ramsey's early strike and a Kalidou Koulibaly own goal in the 25th minute gave the hosts a straightforward win heading into next Thursday's second leg in Naples.

And it was the departing Welshman who opened the scoring on 14 minutes after a free-flowing attacking move by the Gunners -- the future Juventus midfielder nonchalantly passing into Alex Meret's net after an alert layoff by Ainsley Maitland-Niles inside the penalty area.

The goal marked Ramsey's third in eight appearances for the club since signing for the Serie A giants.

Unai Emery's squad went two goals up nearly 10 minutes later when Lucas Torreira's scuffed left-footed shot from the top of the box took a wicked deflection off Koulibaly before looping past Meret.