Goals from Eddie Nketiah, Rob Holding and Fabio Vieira saw us claim victory against Bodo/Glimt to make it two wins out of two in this season’s Europa League and move to the top of the Group A table in the process.
Two strikes in four first-half minutes did the damage as Nketiah netted on his fourth Europa League start in a row before Holding followed up with a quickfire second to stun the reigning Norwegian champions.
Six minutes from time, Vieira netted his first Emirates Stadium goal to clinch the three points and complete a good night’s work for Mikel Arteta’s men.
Gunners at the double
Having made eight changes from the side that claimed the derby day spoils on Saturday, Arteta’s new-look team initially found it difficult to pass our way through a well-drilled Bodo outfit, but despite that we did create two great early opportunities.
Firstly, Nketiah embarked on a powerful run to the edge of the box and bent an effort just wide of the mark, and then Vieria brought the ball down on his chest and volleyed goalwards but saw his attempt flick off the top of the crossbar.
But the pressure told, and we soon swiftly found ourselves in a commanding position. On 23 minutes, Gabriel Martinelli drove forward before finding Kieran Tierney, and the Scotsman thumped a fierce shot off the post. However, Nketiah showed excellent reactions to quickly divert the rebound first-time into the net past a stricken Nikita Haikin.
Then four minutes later, Vieira saw a corner cleared back into his path, and produced a wonderful bit of skill and cross that was begging to be dispatched into the net, and Holding was on hand to do just that to double our advantage.
Vieira wraps it up
There were further chances to virtually put the game to bed before the interval, with Granit Xhaka seeing a powerful free-kick pushed over the top by Haikin, and then the skipper on the night cut the ball back for Vieira who marginally misplaced his shot.
While we were in firm control of the game as the second half kicked off, a goal for the visitors would have changed the complexion completely, and after captain Ulrik Saltnes fired wide from a good position, the underworked Matt Turner had to be sharp to get down low to prevent Amahi Pellegrino from netting from close-range.
We found chances harder to come by in the second 45, but the impressive Nketiah fired over when played through by a delightful Martin Odegaard pass as we looked to kill the game off, who was soon replaced by the returning Reiss Nelson for his first action in our colours since August 2021.
But six minutes from time, the third did arrive thanks to some Brazilian magic. Gabriel Jesus collected the ball on the left touchline and danced past three defenders, before putting the ball on a plate for Vieira to fire into the net and complete an emphatic win.
What it means
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | PSV | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Bodo/Glimt | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 4 |
| 4 | FC Zurich | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | -6 | 0 |
What's next
We host Liverpool at Emirates Stadium on Sunday, before we come up against tonight’s opponents again in Norway on Thursday, October 13 as our group stage campaign reaches the midway point.
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