Arsenal recorded a sixth straight victory in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) group phase after beating Olympiacos 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta made six changes from the win at Newcastle and two of them combined for an almost immediate goal. Myles Lewis-Skelly crossed beautifully for Gabriel Martinelli, but the Brazilian could not get clean contact as he shouldered the ball wide.
Luckily for him, his next chance was almost impossible to miss, as he tapped home from virtually on the goalline after Viktor Gyokeres’ initial shot was saved onto the post.
The Swede would miss another good chance later in the first half, as he curled over after cutting inside.
But it wasn’t all one-way traffic for Arsenal, against a side that had won on their last three trips to the Emirates, as Olympiacos missed chances of their own to level proceedings before HT.
The best fell to Daniel Podence, whose volley produced a stunning save from David Raya.
Martin Odegaard had a standout first half as he was spraying passes around the pitch with ease, and Arsenal’s captain did the same in the second as he fed Leandro Trossard, whose close-range effort was saved by Konstantinos Tzolakis.
Shortly after, Olympiacos thought they had equalised when Chiquinho tapped home a rebound, but Ayoub El Kaabi’s initial header that Raya saved was from an offside position.
Arsenal were looking to seal the victory themselves in the latter stages as Tzolakis saved well from Odegaard running in, and the goalkeeper was helpless for Bukayo Saka’s strike in stoppage time, as the substitute put the ball through his legs.
The Greeks gave a good account of themselves, but ultimately lost their 11th successive UCL away match in the group phase.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
Post-match comments
Gabriel Martinelli told TNT Sports after his side's victory: "This is Champions League. Olympiacos are a really good side with really good players.
"We could have scored more goals in the first half, we had some chances, but that is the Champions League.
"We play for Arsenal and we want to win every single game of the season if possible and we want to win every trophy that we can."
Key stats
- Gabriel Martinelli has scored exactly twice in all three of his Champions League campaigns with Arsenal, while this is the first time he's scored in consecutive games in the competition
- Arsenal have now lost none of their 41 Champions League group stage/league phase home games when winning at half-time (W37 D4)
- Olympiacos have failed to score in their last three games in the UEFA Champions League, a run of 366 minutes without a goal
