Arsenal thrashed Atletico Madrid 4-0 at the Emirates to extend their winning record against Spanish opposition and maintain their perfect start in the Champions League this term.
Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and a Viktor Gyokeres brace gave Mikel Arteta’s men their seventh consecutive win against teams from Spain to improve what was already a Champions League record.
All the goals came in 14 second half minutes after Arsenal had been knocking on the door for much of the first period.
The result preserves the north Londoners’ perfect start on the continent this season, with nine points and zero goals conceded on a night that marked the club’s 100th fixture in Europe’s elite competition.
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Arsenal begin brightly
The Gunners exploded out the blocks. They went close just four minutes in when Eze’s edge-of-the-box strike took a big deflection, looping up and over Jan Oblak before crashing against the bar. From the follow-up, Declan Rice’s volley into the ground bounced over the goal.
From there, Miles Lewis-Skelly dragged a left-footed effort wide and Oblak saved well from Saka at his feet with Arsenal probing.
Midway through the half, they did have the ball in the Atletico goal when Martin Zubamendi won the ball back in midfield and fed Saka down the right.
The England winger in turn found Martinelli with a low ball across the box and the Brazilian gratefully tapped into an empty net. But before he could wheel away in celebration, the goal was swiftly ruled out for offside and the scores remained level.
The Gunners had not been breached in either of their first two games in Europe this term. However, they were nearly undone in bizarre fashion when David Raya rushed out of his goal to shepherd the ball out of play.
Atletico took the resulting throw-in quickly, however, their attempt at the open goal bounced harmlessly wide of the mark.
It was something of a let off for the hosts in a half they largely dominated.
A flurry of goals at the Emirates
After the break, it was Atletico’s turn to rattle the woodwork when former Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez gave the bar a battering with a fine curling strike.
Gyokeres was then denied when his poked effort was quickly smothered by Oblak before Arsenal eventually broke the deadlock.
From yet another set-piece, Rice’s whipped free-kick fell invitingly into the path of Gabriel and the defender made no mistake, heading beyond the Atletico keeper to give the Gunners the lead.
Seven minutes later, it was two, with Martinelli finishing well from a narrow angle down the Gunners’ left.
Gyokeres then added a third and fourth in quick succession and suddenly it was a rout. The hosts saw out the remaining minutes to record an impressively clinical second-half display.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com
