Sports
Arsenal smash six to secure top spot in Champions League group
Arsenal’s five first half goals sent the Gunners through to the last-16 of the Champions League in the grandest manner as Lens were obliterated at the Emirates.
The Gunners scored four times before the half hour mark as Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli all fired home, with skipper Martin Odegaard adding a fifth with a fierce shot just before the break.
Mikel Arteta was able to make changes in the second period, and Jorginho stroked home the sixth from the penalty spot late on.
Here are the game’s main talking points:
1. Kai Havertz may have found his mojo
So it turns out a little spell at left-back can work wonders for you. Havertz was dispatched there on international duty of late, and at the time it was used as proof of just how far his stock has fallen both for club and country since his summer switch from Chelsea. Well, before that in truth.
He’d only scored once for the Gunners in 19 games at that point, and that was a penalty at Bournemouth which he was only allowed to take after Odegaard took pity on him. He’s now got two in two though, proper forward’s strikes both, and while that is unlikely to herald a sudden prolific burst it should at least raise the confidence levels.
2. The famous five, and the best five?
That Havertz strike was the first of five Arsenal goals in the first half of course, all netted by the five most attacking players that Mikel Arteta picked to start the game. Can things go much better for a coach? Not really, especially when three of them got assists too.
The only regret among Gunners forwards would have been among those who began the night on the bench then, with Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah missing out on the fun. Trossard in particular has been good in recent weeks, but if there is to be a Havertz winter bloom then he might have to get used to the sidelines.
3. Does anyone know what handball is?
You can only hope that several Newcastle fans were so fed up by Tuesday night’s football that they didn’t bother tuning in on Wednesday.
If they had then they’d have seen the ball strike Havertz’s thigh and then move onto his arm in much the same way as Tino Livramento conceded that penalty in Paris, only Arsenal – who were 4-0 up at the time – didn’t concede a spot-kick.
Were the incidents slightly different? Yes, and someone somewhere will be able to bore us all about natural and unnatural positions, but that is the problem that the authorities have created for themselves, and it doesn’t look like getting better any time soon.
4. Bukayo Saka gets a goal and a rest
Saka was taken off midway through the second half
You know things are going well for Arsenal when Arteta is able to take Saka off. The wide man is never given much of a rest by his manager, often to the displeasure of Gunners fans concerned about burnout, but off he came here in the 66th minute to be replaced by Reiss Nelson.
Wolves at home await on Saturday, and that’s bad news for them.
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