Arsenal made it two wins from two in the Europa League this season as they secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Bodo/Glimt at the Emirates.
Eddie Nketiah and Rob Holding both found the back of the net midway through the first half, before Fabio Vieira killed things off five minutes from time to seal all three points for Mikel Arteta’s men.
Predictably, Arsenal were on top in the opening stages and Nketiah came close to bending in a nice opener inside the first five minutes, instead watching as his strike whistled wide of the far post.
Some nice play handed Vieira a chance shortly after, but the youngster couldn’t get over his half-volley and sent the ball blazing over the bar when he really should have been testing the goalkeeper.
The breakthrough finally came 23 minutes in courtesy of Nketiah, who tapped home into an empty net after Kieran Tierney’s glorious strike thundered back off the post and landed right at the feet of the Arsenal striker.
And the second came just moments later. Vieira’s glorious cross was steered home by the head of Holding, putting this game to bed before the half-hour mark.
A free-kick from Granit Xhaka then stung the gloves of Bodo/Glimt goalkeeper Nikita Haikin, before Vieira failed to make the most of an opportunity to add a third as he pulled his own effort wide of the post.
Xhaka drew another save from Haikin just seconds after the half-time break but Arsenal appeared to take a foot off the gas as Bodo/Glimt grew into the game.
The away side had some excellent spells in control of the ball but lacked any sort of quality in the final third, with Arsenal regularly keeping them at arm’s length with relative ease.
Bodo/Glimt had Arsenal pinned back at times but the Gunners almost had a third when Nketiah found himself through on goal with around ten minutes left, but he sent his effort ballooning over the bar.
Then, with five minutes to go, the third did come. Gabriel Jesus embarked on a ridiculous solo run which saw him skin two defenders and lay the ball back to Vieira, who powered the ball into the back of the net.
Arsenal preserved their clean sheet in stoppage time as Matt Turner’s save threatened to cross the line before being hooked away by Holding, who had to stretch to karate-kick the ball out of the air.
GK: Matt Turner – 7/10 – Took a while to realise this wasn’t Aaron Ramsdale. Rarely involved in the first half and comfortable under more pressure after the break. Needed to make a few nice saves.
CB: Takehiro Tomiyasu – 8/10 – Staked his claim to return to the starting lineup with an excellent showing. Dominant in the air and comfortable with the ball at his feet. Even did a job on the left after Tierney went off.
CB: Rob Holding – 7/10 – Hardly tested at the back but made an impact in attack, heading home Vieira’s cross.
CB: Gabriel – 6/10 – Did his job without really getting out of second gear.
RM: Marquinhos – 5/10 – A few bright spells but usually had you wanting more. Feels like he’s inching closer to a loan move.
CM: Albert Sambi Lokonga – 5/10 – Probably a bit too cautious in possession in the first half and started to look out of his depth in the second half when the pressure stepped up.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 7/10 – Put himself about with real energy and quality. Clearly keen to get an early lead and seal himself a well-deserved rest.
LM: Kieran Tierney – 7/10 – Looked really sharp on his return to the team. Unfortunate not to get a glorious goal but at least facilitated Nketiah’s tap-in.
AM: Fabio Vieira – 8/10 – Growing in confidence with each passing performance. Pulled the strings from start to finish and just seemed to constantly find himself on the ball.
ST: Gabriel Martinelli – 6/10 – Had the odd bright spell but this was undoubtedly an off night for Martinelli.
ST: Eddie Nketiah – 7/10 – A lot of hard work to get himself involved and flashed his natural goalscoring instincts as he tapped home Tierney’s rebound.
SUB: Martin Odegaard (58′ for Xhaka) – 6/10 – One or two nice passes but couldn’t really get on the ball as Bodo/Glimt stepped up their pressure.
SUB: Bukayo Saka (58′ for Marquinhos) – 6/10 – Surprisingly came on when it wasn’t really necessary. Did well but had fans wincing every time he was tackled.
SUB: Gabriel Jesus (58′ for Martinelli) – 7/10 – Provided some energy to the attacking line and bagged a glorious assist.
SUB: Ben White (70′ for Tierney) – 6/10 – Happy to fly down the right during his cameo.
SUB: Reiss Nelson (82′ for Nketiah) – N/A
Manager: Mikel Arteta – 6/10 – Made some good changes to temporarily break Bodo/Glimt’s rhythm. Surprisingly brought Saka and Jesus off the bench when it wasn’t necessary to risk them.
Credit: 90min.com
