Arsenal hosted Lille in the second Champions League fixture of the season, with the scoreline ending Arsenal 3-0 Lille.
The French visitors came to the Emirates Stadium and surprised everybody but themselves. They were a tough nut to crack, particularly in the first half. In the first 45 minutes, Arsenal registered six shots but were denied each time, with Berke Ozer proving to be resilient between the sticks.
Then, in the second half, Arsenal made wholesale changes, and they completely changed the game for the Gunners. In the end, it was a fruitful night for Mikel Arteta's men.
Loser #1 - Noni Madueke
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Noni Madueke played well at the weekend on the left, but tonight, he started on the right, where he is more used to playing for Arsenal. You wouldn't have thought so, though. He was, for lack of a better word, dreadful.
He was tasked with providing crosses, a task he failed to live up to. With a cross accuracy of 7% (attempting 15, successfully registering just ONE), this was a night to forget for Madueke. Thankfully, Bukayo Saka was brought on after just 65 minutes.
Winner #1 - Myles Lewis-Skelly
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Lewis-Skelly was tasked with playing at right-back tonight, after a period of playing in midfield. He proved that he hasn't lost anything at full-back and he remains a viable option there.
With Bruno Guimaraes entering form in midfield, Lewis-Skelly won't see any reduction in his minutes (he doesn't deserve a reduction either). Flitting between full-back and midfield will serve both Lewis-Skelly and Arsenal.
Loser #2 - Viktor Gyokeres
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In a rare start for the Sweden international, Gyokeres failed to capitalise. In his third start of the season, Gyokeres is still yet to get on the score sheet.
He did little to harm Arsenal, but he also did nothing to suit them, either. He is at the stage now where he needs to start making a point - we have seen that he's capable of scoring goals with Sweden, but he doesn' carry that over to Arsenal.
Winner #2 - Jurrien Timber
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It was awesome to see Jurrien Timber pick up his first Champions League appearance of the season, no less from a starting position.
What was even better was seeing him break the deadlock
Loser #3 - Mikel Merino
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Mikel Merino needed minutes, but tonight Arsenal saw the repercussions of not starting him. He looked awfully slow in possession, and whenever he was involved in any semblance of build up play, Arsenal looked like a halted team because of it.
Subbed off after 65 minutes, it's a surprise he even lasted that long.
Winner #3 - Bukayo Saka
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[Just a minute after coming on](https://paininthearsenal.com/took-one-minute-bukayo-saka-reduce-noni-madueke-back-bench), Saka did what Noni Madueke was trying to do all night by playing a low cross into Eberechi Eze. Arsenal were, unsurprisingly, a much better team with Saka in it.
> Arsenal are a better team with Saka on the pitch - who would have thought?!
>
> (I don't know, maybe everyone who actually watches him and doesn't get their opinions from Twitter...)