Mikel Arteta made five changes to the team that lost to Aston Villa on the weekend, but his side showed early promise with Martin Odegaard testing Dani van den Heuvel, who was making his UCL debut after Simon Mignolet was injured in the warm-up.
The hosts still held their own and Aleksandar Stanković saw a speculative shot blocked, but Arsenal continued to have the better chances with Piero Hincapié’s instinctive attempt hitting the post before Viktor Gyökeres’ header was deflected behind.
Their opener eventually came in the 25th minute through Madueke, who glided past Joaquin Seys and Raphael Onyedika before smashing a superb strike in off the underside of the crossbar.
Hincapié then saw a header blocked on the line by Hans Vanaken prior to Van den Heuvel holding Gyökeres’ header. Carlos Forbs offered the biggest threat going the other way, although the wideman had a shot blocked by Hincapié and saved by David Raya.
Stankovic then curled an effort agonisingly wide before he and Christos Tzolis both had a shot saved as the Blauw-Zwart searched for an equaliser.
Arsenal got off to the perfect start to the second half as Madueke doubled his tally within 90 seconds of the restart with a simple header from Martín Zubimendi’s cross.
Gabriel Martinelli then became the first-ever Gunners player to score in five consecutive UCL games in style, breezing away from Hugo Siquet and Onyedika before curling a wonderful shot into the top corner.
Tzolis still looked to create problems going the other way, and his corner found its way to Brandon Mechele for a shot that was blocked by Myles Lewis-Skelly before the Greece international sent a shot of his own wide.
Gabriel Jesus was then left in disbelief as his attempt hit the crossbar. Even so, there was still plenty to celebrate with 16-year-old Marli Salmon making his first-team debut as Arsenal became the second English team in history to win 10 consecutive UCL group/league phase games to go three points ahead at the top of the table.
In contrast, Club Brugge are still awaiting a first win in this competition since their league phase opener, leaving them 30th and three points off a play-off place.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Noni Madueke (Arsenal)
