Arsenal beat Slavia 2:1 in the Champions League

The first half decided the outcome of the match

Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 2:1 in the fourth-round match of the Champions League league phase, AFP reports. All the goals came in the first half: in the 9th minute, Noni Madueke raced down the right flank after a pass from Viktor Gyökeres, who had chested down a long kick from goalkeeper David Raya, and fired a low shot past Slavia's 17-year-old (described by AFP as a Ukrainian teenager) goalkeeper Nazar Domchak. In the 38th minute, Gyökeres, after a one-two with Mikel Merino near the box, sent the ball in off the far post — 2:0.

Second half: Slavia came alive, but too late

The Czech champions, who played a sluggish first half (their only chance being a Tomáš Holeš shot off target), improved noticeably after the break and avoided a repeat of the home 0:3 thrashing by Arsenal exactly a year earlier. Oscar Kléb forced Raya into a save early in the second half, and 15 minutes before the end, defender Gabriel Magalhães and Raya cleared the ball off the line twice in a row after a shot from David Zima, and then dealt again with a ball that hit the post after Raya's save on Kléb's header. Slavia scored a consolation goal in the 90th minute: after a cross from David Jurásek, Viktor Novak fired in from point-blank range.

What this means in the standings

The win got the Londoners back to winning ways in Europe after the 2:2 draw with Bayern in the previous round: Arsenal now have 10 points from four matches, Slavia one. Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta said after the game that an away win against a 'really tough opponent' is valuable, but criticised the second half: in his words, the team 'should have scored three, four or five' and was 'nowhere near our standards' after the break. For the hosts, the defeat was their 23rd consecutive Champions League match without a win — one match away from AEK Athens' anti-record (1992–2006).