Gabriel Martinelli extended Arsenal’s perfect start in the Champions League as the Brazilian forward inspired a 2-0 victory against Olympiakos on Wednesday.
After winning 2-0 at Athletic Bilbao in their Champions League opener, Arsenal dispatched the Greek champions at the Emirates Stadium to maintain their 100 percent record in the league phase.
Martinelli netted in the first half and Bukayo Saka wrapped up the points in the closing moments.
The north Londoners weren’t at their best but still managed to grind out a seventh win from nine games in all competitions this season.
Mikel Arteta’s men improved their impressive home record in the Champions League with a 10th clean sheet in their last 13 matches in the competition.
The Gunners are back in action on Saturday against West Ham as they aim to close the two-point gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool.
“Winning in the Champions League is always very complicated. It is yet another clean sheet for the boys in the competition, which is remarkable,” Arteta said.
“We looked a real threat, really dynamic. We had two or three more chances and you have to be careful in the Champions League if you don’t take them.
“We had a lot of dominance but at the end we found a way with Bukayo to score again. We kept believing until the end.” Olympiakos’ visit was a welcome trip down memory lane for Arteta, who was up against one of his childhood coaches in Jose Luis Mendilibar.
Aged 14, Arteta was in the Athletic Bilbao youth system where Mendilibar, now in charge of Olympiakos, was his coach. Arteta still cites the lessons learned from his football education in Spain as pillars of his philosophy at Arsenal and the pupil put that wisdom to good use against his mentor. England trio Saka, Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze were all dropped to the bench by Arteta as Martin Odegaard returned to the starting line-up after a shoulder injury. Arteta’s squad rotation produced the desired effect and Arsenal should have taken the lead inside 90 seconds.