Arsenal 4-0 Atletico Madrid: Gyokeres double helps keep hosts perfect
Arsenal remain in the mix at the top of the Champions League table and put on a show at both ends of the pitch to keep their perfect record.
Viktor Gyokeres scored his first Champions League goals for Arsenal, helping them to a resounding 4-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal started on the front foot and almost got a stroke of luck four minutes in as Eberechi Eze's heavily deflected strike looped over the wrong-footed Jan Oblak before hitting the crossbar. Declan Rice then sent a bouncing volley just over the target.
Shortly after, David Raya rushed out of his box to deal with a long ball, giving away a throw-in, which was taken quickly. Giuliano Simeone picked out Julian Alvarez, whose curler from the right wing was only narrowly wide of the empty net.
Gabriel Martinelli then saw an opener chalked off in the 36th minute after he turned in from close range from an offside position, while Alvarez whipped a curling effort off the crossbar just after the break.
But, it was all Arsenal after that, with Gabriel Magalhaes meeting Rice's free-kick to nod the ball past Oblak 57 minutes in.
Seven minutes later, Arsenal doubled their lead, with Martinelli finishing off a lovely, flowing team move by guiding Myles Lewis-Skelly's throughball in off the far post.
Gyokeres' quickfire double rounded off the match in style. He turned in a tight space before a deflection off David Hancko helped his strike past Oblak, while his second came three minutes later when he thrusted a hip forward to help William Saliba's nod down in from close range.
Data Debrief: Gunners on fire at both ends
Despite a fairly indifferent first half, Arsenal ran out deserved winners, with Gyokeres claiming his first Champions League brace since scoring a hat-trick against the Gunners in November 2024.
But he was not the only one on song; Martinelli has now scored in each of his last three appearances in Europe, as many as in his previous 18 games in the competition.
Arsenal remain one of only two sides - along with Inter - not to concede this term, conceding just 1.52 expected goals against (xGA), with 0.67 of that coming on Tuesday.
Mikel Arteta's side accumulated 2.16 xG at the other end, only failing to score with one of their shots on target after the break.
