Bukayo Saka’s double fired Arsenal a step closer to the Champions League last 16 as the England forward inspired a 3-0 win against Monaco.
Bukayo Saka‘s double helped Arsenal defeat Monaco 3-0 on Wednesday, bringing them one step closer to the Champions League last 16. At the Emirates Stadium, Mikel Arteta’s team moved up to third position in the redesigned league phase thanks to goals from Saka late in both half and Kai Havertz in the dying minutes. With two games left, the Gunners are in control of their fate in the competition for the top-eight finish, which ensures automatic advancement to the round of sixteen. They have won four of their six European games this season. To find out if they will proceed, clubs that place ninth through twenty-fourth in the 36-team first phase must compete in a play-off.
The north Londoners will be sure to avoid that unwelcome roadblock with games against Girona and Dinamo Zagreb scheduled for January.
Arsenal’s fifth victory in their last six games in all competitions was a nice recovery following last weekend’s devastating 1-1 draw with Fulham in the Premier League.
Gabriel Magalhaes, Ben White, Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Takehiro Tomiyasu were all absent because Arsenal’s defense injury situation is still not getting better.
Thomas Partey, a midfielder for Ghana, missed Tuesday’s training, thus he began out of position at right-back.
The 18-year-old left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly made just his second Arsenal start, the first being against third-tier Bolton in the League Cup.
Lewis-Skelly, the youngest player to start an Arsenal Champions League game since Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2011, handled the situation with poise.
Gabriel Jesus, on the other hand, has failed to score in 32 appearances for Arsenal, and the Brazilian’s lack of confidence was evident in the first risky attempt by the hosts.
Jesus should have scored after being picked out by Gabriel Martinelli’s pass, but he was only able to generate a weak effort that went straight at Monaco goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki.
Moments later, Jesus was unable to pace his run well enough to arrive at Mikel Merino’s mocking cross.
With a long-range effort that fizzed just beyond the far post, Aleksandr Golovin almost caught Arsenal keeper David Raya off guard.
A raking long pass put Jesus clear through for a low shot that was too near to Majecki, demonstrating that his suffering was far from over.
The 27-year-old was having a rough time, and despite Martinelli’s encouragement, he was unable to defeat Majecki once more. His close-range attempt was saved by the ‘keeper.
However, Jesus was at least giving Monaco trouble with his deft movement, and he was instrumental in Arsenal’s opening goal in the 34th minute.
Jesus got in behind the Monaco defense after Lewis-Skelly’s brilliant ball, and his low cross gave Saka an easy tap-in for his fourth goal in his previous six outings.
Just before halftime, Martin Odegaard had a great chance to extend Arsenal’s advantage after robbing Soungoutou Magassa, but he missed the mark with Majecki as his only opponent.
Early in the second half, Thilo Kehrer had a chance to punish Arsenal for their carelessness, but his header missed the mark from ten yards out.
After the interval, Arteta’s team struggled to focus, and Takumi Minamino put Raya to the test before Breel Embolo missed with a shot that was inches wide after William Saliba’s careless defending.
However, Arsenal came out on top and won the game in the 78th minute.
When Havertz applied pressure on the ‘keeper, Majecki failed to clear his lines fast enough, allowing Saka to drive his close-range shot into the empty net.
Havertz turned in Saka’s attempt in the 88th minute, giving Arsenal another chance to add gloss to the scoreline.
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