Arsenal Thrash Club Brugge To Stay Perfect In Champions League

Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli scored stunning goals as Arsenal outclassed Club Brugge 3-0 on Wednesday to make it six Champions League wins out of six, virtually guaranteeing a place in the Champions League last 16.

Former Chelsea winger Madueke unleashed a thunderbolt from distance to give the Gunners a deserved first-half lead and headed in from point-blank range at the start of the second half.

Martinelli then put the result beyond doubt, cutting in from the left and hitting a curling right-footed effort home from just outside the box.

Injury-hit Arsenal maintained their 100 percent record in the Champions League this season and have conceded just one goal so far.

The Gunners had already secured their place in the knockout phase before their trip to Belgium but now appear certain to secure a top-eight spot.

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That would mean direct entry into the last 16, avoiding the need for a risky play-off.

Mikel Arteta’s Premier League leaders suffered their first defeat since August at the weekend, losing 2-1 at Aston Villa.

Ivan Leko, back at Brugge for a second spell as manager, was overseeing his first match after the Belgian club sacked Nicky Hayen on Monday.

Arteta, dealing with an injury crisis, made five changes to the side that lost to Villa, with Christian Norgaard starting at centre back and Viktor Gyokeres back in the starting line-up for the first time since November 1.

The visitors started brightly and were a whisker away from taking the lead when Gunners defender Piero Hincapie turned a wayward Myles Lewis-Skelly shot against the post midway through the first half.

But minutes later Arsenal were ahead after Madueke’s breathtaking strike. The winger picked the ball up just inside the Brugge half, on the right of the Gunners’ attack.

He cut in, finding an extra gear, and unleashed an unstoppable left-footed shot past Dani van den Heuvel, which went in off the underside of the crossbar.

Brugge’s attacks were sporadic but Carlos Forbs, who scored twice in his team’s 3-3 draw with Barcelona last month, was an occasional menace on the right.

As the clock ticked towards half-time, Brugge suddenly looked more dangerous, with Aleksandar Stankovic twice going close and Christos Tzolis also testing David Raya.

But any sense of momentum that Brugge might have built up vanished in the opening moments of the second period when Madueke, playing on the right in place of Bukayo Saka, was on hand to nod home Martin Zubimendi’s cross.

Martinelli, largely a bit-part player for Arsenal this season, then joined the party in the 56th minute as the visitors threatened to overwhelm their opponents.

Brugge threatened occasionally but Arsenal substitute Gabriel Jesus, back in action after 11 months out, struck the crossbar as the visitors threatened more goals.