Arsenal beat Slavia Prague away in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Viktor Gyökeres involved in both goals in a win that turned tense late on, The Guardian reports. The Swedish striker set up Noni Madueke's early opener and then scored himself shortly before half-time. Slavia pulled one back in the last minute of normal time and pushed for an equaliser in stoppage time, but Arsenal held on.
The result extends Arsenal's unbeaten run on their travels in European competition to 10 matches, according to The Guardian. For Slavia, the defeat stretches their winless sequence in the European Cup and Champions League to 23 games, which the paper says equals the longest such run in the history of the competition, matching marks previously set by AEK Athens and FCSB, the club formerly known as Steaua Bucharest.
Why it matters
Mikel Arteta changed six players from the side that won at Anfield on Sunday, a result that left Arsenal three points clear at the top of the Premier League. Winning again despite heavy rotation suggests the squad can carry the load of a long season across two competitions.
The game also mattered for Gyökeres personally. The Guardian describes him as having struggled for form and confidence, and notes that he had only recently opened his account for the season with a scrappy finish against Fleetwood. His contribution on Wednesday — a third assist in his last five appearances, plus a goal — offers Arteta a second striker finding rhythm behind Kai Havertz, who the paper says remains the manager's clear first choice up front.
How the goals came
Arsenal were ahead after eight minutes. David Raya played a long ball forward, and the Slavia defence let it bounce instead of clearing it. Gyökeres read the situation, got to the ball ahead of his marker, brought it down on his chest and played Madueke through to finish. The Guardian reports that Arteta's reaction on the touchline suggested he enjoyed the moment.
The second goal arrived seven minutes before the break. Gyökeres traded a quick one-two with Mikel Merino inside the penalty area and then curled a shot into the far corner. Slavia needed a clearance off the line from Michal Sadilek to stop Arsenal adding a third before the interval.
Merino, who The Guardian notes scored twice in this fixture last year, had earlier chances to extend the lead. Madueke, described as lively, cut the ball back to him for the best of them, but goalkeeper Nazar Domchak kept it out.
Arsenal were without some of their usual fluency in attack. Martin Ødegaard watched from the bench, sitting beside William Saliba, who was returning from a long-term back injury. Martín Zubimendi made only his third start of what the paper calls a frustrating campaign, while Gyökeres led the line for the third time in Arsenal's past four matches.
Slavia's response and a nervous finish
Slavia were more aggressive after the break, helped by the introduction of record signing Ange N'Guessan from the bench. The hosts came close to a penalty when Emmanuel Ayaosi went down under a challenge from Ezri Konsa on the edge of the area, but none was given. Konsa and Declan Rice were both booked as Arsenal laboured to rediscover their first-half rhythm.
The closing 20 minutes changed the mood. David Jurasek's long-range strike took a deflection and went just wide of Raya's goal. From the corner that followed, Gabriel Magalhães cleared two goalbound headers off the line within seconds, then celebrated with a fist pump. Mikulas Konecny headed another chance over when he should have done better, and Raya made a spectacular full-stretch save to push an Oskar Kubiak effort onto the post.
Slavia finally scored in the final minute of normal time, Wiktor Nowak finishing at the far post. The Guardian reports a few nervous moments in stoppage time before Arteta could relax at the full-time whistle.
What to watch
Arsenal return to Premier League duty protecting their lead at the top, with Arteta likely to weigh rotation again as the Champions League league phase continues.
