Arsenal thumped Atletico Madrid 4-0 in a hugely impressive Champions League outing on Tuesday, as Gabriel Magalhaes scored and assisted while Viktor Gyokeres netted a confidence-boosting brace. Three of the Gunners' four goals came directly from set-pieces, as Mikel Arteta's side became the second English side to beat Atletico in Europe this season, after Liverpool.
Arsenal had an opening within the first five minutes, as Eberechi Eze took aim from outside the area, and his shot took a looping deflection before crashing against the crossbar. Midway through the half, meanwhile, David Raya made a terrible mistake, as he attempted to shepherd the ball out of play, only to lose possession, and after Atletico took their throw-in quickly, Julian Alvarez could only shoot narrowly wide of the far post.
After the half-hour mark, Arsenal thought they had the lead, as Martin Zubimendi won the ball high and fed Bukayo Saka; his shot was tapped in by Gabriel Martinelli, but VAR correctly ruled the Brazil international offside.
After the resumption in the second half, Atletico also hit the bar, as Alvarez shot from the edge of the box and sent Raya scrambling, only for the Spaniard to be saved by the woodwork. But it was Arsenal who took the lead, four minutes before the hour, with Gabriel heading home a fine free-kick delivery from Declan Rice.
Martinelli added a second just after the 60-minute mark, as he ran onto a fine Myles Lewis-Skelly through ball and found the bottom corner, before Viktor Gyokeres all but ended the game as a contest with a scrappy finish from the edge of the six-yard box.
Gyokeres added his second, and Arsenal's fourth, on 70 minutes, after another exceptional Rice delivery found Gabriel at the back post, marking the end of a whirlwind 13-minute period in which the north London side marked themselves out as genuine European contenders this season.
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