Arsenal thrashed Atletico Madrid 4-0 in their UEFA Champions League group stage clash courtesy of strikes by Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli and a double from Viktor Gyokeres, at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
Shortly after Atletico striker Julian Alvarez hit the crossbar, Arsenal defender Gabriel broke the deadlock by heading in a Declan Rice free kick in the 57th minute.
Arsenal continued to push forward and were rewarded after a brilliant piece of play when Martinelli finished off a sweeping move seven minutes later.
Striker Gyokeres then scored his first goal of the night via a deflection as Arsenal ran riot, the Swede ending a nine-game scoring drought for club and country.
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Gyokeres bundled in his second from an asisst from defender Gabriel as Atletico were again unable to deal with a set piece.
Victory extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions and put them on nine points in the group phase, after three wins without conceding a goal, well on the way to qualifying for the knockout stages.
Atletico, on three points, will have to dust themselves down after their six-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to a an end.
“It was a tough match. After the goal they opened up a bit and it was a little easier for us to find the spaces. Very happy with the result,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said.
“At this level in the Champions League you really need to step up and we certainly did that in every phase of the play.”
What had been a compelling contest with little between the sides became an Arsenal rout with goals by Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and a brace from Viktor Gyokeres leaving Diego Simeone’s side shell-shocked.
Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League results
Barcelona 6-1 Olympiacos
Kairat 0-0 Pafos
Arsenal 4-0 Atletico Madrid
Bayer Leverkusen 2-7 PSG
Kobenhavn 2-4 Borussia Dortmund
Newcastle United 3-0 Benfica
PSV 6-2 Napoli
USG 0-4 Inter Milan
Villarreal 0-2 Manchester City.
UEFA Champions League/Reuters.