Arsenal's 3-0 victory over Slavia Prague on Tuesday made it four wins from four in the Champions League for the high-flying Gunners so far in 2025-26. Bukayo Saka, captain for the night, got the ball rolling from the penalty spot, before Mikel Merino took over as the Spain international, playing in place of Viktor Gyokeres, scored twice in a clinical performance in the Czech capital.
Gabriel Magalhaes has made his name in recent seasons as a force with his head at attacking set-pieces, but the centre-back almost gave Arsenal a very early lead in spectacular fashion – his left-footed drive after the ball was only partially cleared by Slavia just narrowly missed the target.
Slavia pressure in response didn't test David Raya as shots were either blocked or flew off target, before the Gunners regained a creative foothold and Saka had a pair of efforts saved by goalkeeper Jakub Markovic midway through the first half. Leandro Trossard was also denied in a spell of pressure that would have pleased Arteta on the touchline.
Arsenal were also peppering the Slavia box with corners, which directly led to making the breakthrough. A delivery from Saka was met at the near post by Gabriel and deflected behind, which prompted a VAR intervention after striking Lukas Provod’s arm before it went out of play. The referee pointed to the spot after consulting the pitchside monitor and Saka showed no mercy as he smashed the subsequent spot-kick into the net.
Slavia, disappointing since the very early stages, unsuccessfully appealed for a penalty of their own a couple of times, but Arsenal were firmly in control by the time the half-time whistle came. The second goal came, meanwhile, straight after the restart and was as simple as you like as Trossard supplied the cross from the left and Merino, somehow completely unmarked in the middle, turned the ball in six yards out.
Merino's second of the night, and Arsenal's third, was another simple one. Declan Rice's floated ball into the box looked like it should have been Markovic's to claim, only for the goalkeeper not to make it before Merino got his head there instead, flicking into the empty net.
The Gunners survived a late penalty decision when substitute Ben White seemed to upend Provod, but appeared harsh on second look and VAR intervened to determine it was not a foul.
GOAL rates Arsenal's players from the Fortuna Arena...