Club Brugge 0-3 Arsenal: Marvellous Madueke keeps Arteta's men perfect
Arsenal were comfortable winners at Club Brugge as Noni Madueke took centre stage for the Gunners in Wednesday's Champions League clash.
Noni Madueke scored twice as Arsenal maintained their perfect record in the Champions League with a comfortable 3-0 win at Club Brugge on Wednesday.
The electric winger scored a sensational opener midway through the first half at Jan Breydel Stadium and headed in an easy second just after the break.
Gabriel Martinelli then got in on the act with a stupendous goal of his own as Arsenal closed on direct entry to the last 16 by making it six wins from six in the league phase.
Dani van den Heuvel had already parried Martin Odegaard's stinging drive and Piero Hincapie struck the base of the right-post by the time Madueke opened the scoring in stunning fashion.
The England winger drove forward and unleashed an unstoppable effort into the top-right corner from 25 yards, before Ben White's thumping header and another curling effort from Madueke brought the best out of Van den Heuvel.
It took just two second-half minutes for Martin Zubimendi's deep left-wing cross to be nodded home by Madueke, and Martinelli then bent a sublime bending effort into the top-right corner to essentially end the game as a contest.
There was almost a heart-warming moment for Gabriel Jesus, back after 332 days out with injury, who smacked one against the crossbar after entering the fray as a substitute, while Ethan Nwaneri drew two stops from Van den Heuvel in injury time.
Data Debrief: Madueke shines, while Martinelli breaks new ground
Arsenal saw their lead at the top of the Premier League trimmed to two points after losing 2-1 at Aston Villa last time out but, led by Madueke, returned to winning ways here.
The winger finished with a team-high four shots, three of which were on target, from an xG of 1.01.
All three of Madueke's Arsenal goals have now come in the Champions League, while he has scored in successive European games for the first time.
Martinelli, meanwhile, has scored in all five of his Champions League outings this term – becoming the first Gunners player to score in five consecutive outings in Europe's premier competition.
Victory here also means Arsenal have won six straight games to start a single edition of the European Cup/Champions League for the first time, becoming just the fifth English team to do so (after Manchester United, Leeds United, Liverpool and Manchester City).
