Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 3-0 to extend their perfect Champions League start and set a new club record with eight consecutive wins without conceding. Check out the best facts and Opta data from the game with our Slavia Prague vs Arsenal stats page.
Arsenal continued their perfect start to the season in the Champions League with a 3-0 win away at Slavia Prague. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring from the penalty spot before stand-in striker Mikel Merino netted twice in the second half.
Mikel Arteta’s side have won all four of their European games so far this season without conceding a single goal, and it’s now eight consecutive wins in all competitions without conceding, a new record for the club. The result takes Arsenal temporarily to the top of the Champions League group phase.
Once again, the Gunners were defensively excellent, limiting their Czech opponents to just 0.46 expected goals and just one shot on target, even if they did need VAR help’s to overturn a late penalty for Slavia Prague that could have ruin their hopes of a clean sheet.
Their captain on the night, Saka, was at the heart of everything. It was his penalty that opened the scoring mid-way through the first half, and he was a constant threat both receiving wide on the right and cutting inside from the left. He took six shots and landed five of them on target – the first time he’s done so in his career.
It was a stuttering first half in Prague, with Arsenal spending the opening 20 minutes unable to establish any rhythm. To their credit, Slavia came out with real intent, pressing aggressively and making life extremely difficult with direct, physical football.
For once, Arsenal were matched physically and even overawed at times: the hosts enjoyed 56% possession, won 57.7% of their duels and out-shot the visitors 4–1 across the opening 15 minutes. Arsenal struggled to build any sustained passing sequences and were forced into uncharacteristic sloppiness.
But even when the football isn’t flowing, this Arsenal side have plenty of ways to hurt teams. Once again, set-pieces provided the breakthrough.
Their opener came from their fifth corner of the half, Saka’s inswinger flicked on by Gabriel Magalhães and blocked by the arm of Lukáš Provod. Initially waved away, VAR intervened, and Saka swept the penalty home. In doing so, he became the first Arsenal player to score in four consecutive UEFA Champions League away games.
From there, Arsenal settled. The xG race chart below tells the story quite clearly. A flat line early on as Arsenal struggled and then control once they forced the breakthrough.
Slavia Prague 0-3 Arsenal stats - xG race chart
Just 35 seconds into the second half, Merino made it 2–0, steering in a Leandro Trossard cross. It was the quickest goal Arsenal have ever scored after half-time in Champions League history (45:35). The Spaniard then added a third, cleverly flicking in a lofted ball from Rice as goalkeeper Jakub Markovic misjudged his attempt to claim.
That goal allowed Arteta to rotate from the bench, and he will be relieved to emerge without further injuries on a night when news broke before kick-off that Viktor Gyökeres had suffered a potential hamstring issue.
Overall, it was another strong night for Arsenal. The depth of their squad continues to shine, and performances like this underline their credentials to go deep across multiple competitions this season.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Slavia Prague vs Arsenal stats from their Champions League meeting at Fortuna Arena.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
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