Madueke Double at Onyedika’s Brugge Helps Arsenal Maintain Invincibility 

Duro Ikhazuagbe  with agency report

Arsenal shrugged off their Premier League  defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday to cruise to a 3-0 win against Belgian side Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night.

Noni Madueke scored twice as the London Gunners defeated  Club Brugge to maintain their 100 per cent record in the Champions League and all but secure their place in the knockout phase.

Super Eagles forward, Raphael Onyedika was in action for 74 minutes without getting on the scorer’s sheet for Club Brugge before he was replaced by Hugo Vetlesen.

Mikel Arteta made five changes to the side that lost to Aston Villa and it was one of those players, Noni Madueke, who opened the scoring with an excellent strike.

The England winger shrugged off one defender before smashing a shot from 20 yards which went in off the crossbar.

Club Brugge did threaten Arsenal’s much-changed backline just before the break but David Raya made smart saves from Christos Tzolis and Aleksandar Stankovic to keep the Gunners in the lead.

Madueke got his second goal of the evening just two minutes into the second half when he nodded in Martin Zubimendi’s excellent cross, and Gabriel Martinelli ensured it would be a comfortable end to the game when he curled in a superb strike in the 56th minute for Arsenal’s third.

There were also other positives for the Gunners as Gabriel Jesus made his first appearance for 342 days, after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, and 16-year-old Marli Salmonwas brought on for his first-team debut.

And Jesus almost made it the perfect comeback but his strike from the edge of the area late on hit the bar.

The win leaves Arsenal on 18 points, two more than was required for a top-eight finish last season, meaning they are likely to avoid the play-offs in February and can prepare for the last 16.

RESULTS

Qarabag 2-4 Ajax

Villarreal 2-3 Copenhagen

Ath Bilbao 0-0 PSG

Leverkusen 2-2 Newcastle

Benfica 2-0 Napoli

Brugge 0-3 Arsenal

Dortmund 2-2 Bodo

Juventus 2-0 Pafos

R’Madrid 1-2 Man City

TODAY

Europa League

D’Zagreb v Betis

Ferencvaros v Rangers

Ludogorets v PAOK

Midtjylland v Genk

Nice v Braga

S’Graz v Crvena

Stuttgart v Maccabi

Utrecht v Nottingham

Young Boy  v Lille

Basel v Aston Villa

Brann v Fenerbahçe

Celta Vigo v Bologna

Celtic v AS Roma

FC Porto v Malmo

FCSB v Feyenoord

Freiburg v Salzburg

Lyon v GA Eagles

Pa’thinakos v Plzen