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Arsenal back on track as Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli enjoy more Champions League freedom

Arsenal back on track as Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli enjoy more Champions League freedom

When Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are in this kind of mood, there is little anyone can do to stop them.

Sevilla learnt that the hard way as the wingers terrorised them all night to put Arsenal on the cusp of qualifying for the last-16 of the Champions League.

Arsenal are now top of Group B and they have a healthy four-point gap over both PSV Eindhoven and Lens with two games to go.

That should have made this the perfect night for Mikel Arteta, but the sight of Saka limping off with five minutes to go put a downer on it. The winger landed awkwardly after challenging for a header and, after trying to carry on, he had to come off.

Arsenal will hope it is nothing serious, as before then both Martinelli and Saka had sparkled in this comfortable 2-0 win.

This is Arsenal’s first Champions League campaign since the 2016-17 season and perhaps that is why teams are yet to wise up to how to stop them.

In the Premier League, the Gunners routinely find that teams double up on Martinelli and Saka. It is a tactic that works well, with the two wingers starved of space and Arsenal’s biggest offensive weapon duly diminished.

Sevilla could not contain the Arsenal attack (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Sevilla could not contain the Arsenal attack (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

So far in the Champions League, though, sides have not given Arsenal the same respect and they have been punished. Saka has two goals and three assists in four matches, while Martinelli has a goal and an assist in two games.

They drove Arsenal to victory against Sevilla and it was clear from early on that would be the case.

Martinelli had the beating of right-back Juanlu time and time again during the first-half, while Saka was fouled four times in the opening 17 minutes as Sevilla struggled to handled him.

The Spanish side offered nothing going forward and their resistance was eventually broken on the half-hour mark, with Saka at the heart of it.

Jorginho’s pass from deep picked out the winger and he teed up Leandro Trossard, who started upfront in the absence of Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus, to score.

Leandro Trossard stepped up with Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus both injured (Action Images via Reuters)
Leandro Trossard stepped up with Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus both injured (Action Images via Reuters)

The decision to pick Trossard turned out to be the right call by Arteta, who could have tasked Kai Havertz with leading the line. Instead the German played in midfield and, with Trossard as the striker, Martinelli and Saka played with the same spark as when Jesus starts.

With Sevilla carrying next to no threat, all Arsenal needed was a second goal to kill the game and with 26 minutes to go they got it. This time Martinelli and Saka combined. Martinelli picked up the ball in his own half, spinning a defender to set Saka on his way.

The England star had half a pitch to go, but he kept his composure. Running into the box he lost the chasing defender with a slick turn, before finishing well.

After a painful week where Arsenal were dumped out of the Carabao Cup and lost their unbeaten start to the Premier League season, the Gunners are back on track.