ARSENAL 4-0 ATLETICO MADRID: The Gunners demolished their supposedly stubborn opponents to show why they can go all the way in the Champions League this season
Something special happens whenever Madrid pay a visit to the Emirates. Six months ago, Arsenal battered mighty Real Madrid 3-0 on the way to reaching the Champions League semi-final.
And this time, they smashed four past Atletico Madrid on another sensational European night. At the heart of the victory was Viktor Gyokeres, who ended his barren run with two goals in three minutes.
So much for Atletico being tight at the back, tough to break down and formidable opponents. Arsenal just put them away with another brilliant all-action performance which will surely mark them down as genuine Champions League contenders.
Mikel Arteta’s men just look unstoppable as they sit top of the Premier League and now they have made it three straight wins in Europe. This was supposedly their toughest test to date after making light work of Athletic Bilbao and Olympiacos. They actually embarrassed Atletico with a goal rush in the second half.
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Declan Rice, who hit two stunning free-kicks to beat Real Madrid in April, provided another for Gabriel to open the scoring after 57 minutes to leave Arsenal fans chanting: “Set piece again, ole, ole.”
And just when they began to break out into a chorus of “1-0 to the Arsenal”, Arteta’s men grabbed another as the fans began to dance to a different tune. Few players deserve a bit of glory more than Gabriel Martinelli because he has been benched, struggled and yet always given 100 per cent.
Martinelli’s second was a cracker as Myles Lewis-Skelly made such a powerful run across the pitch, laid it off and then the Brazil winger curled a delicious shot in off the far post. The stadium went wild because they knew this was a statement win as not many teams make it look so easy against Diego Simeone’s Atletico.
But even more was to follow. And it came after more good work by Martinelli – and this time it was finished by a very popular player in Gyokeres. Martinelli drove to the by-line, cut it back and then Gyokeres used every ounce of strength to force home the ball off Atletico defender David Hancko after 67 minutes.
That was Gyokeres’ first goal in 600 minutes and yet the Arsenal fans have been terrific with him, offering him great support even when a few doubts have crept in when he has missed chances. You cannot fault his strength and power – or determination to get goals. He gives Arsenal something different even if, at times, he looks more battering ram than elegant European striker.
But Arsenal paid £64million for Gyokeres in the summer not just because of his glut of goals for Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese league but also because he got six in the Champions League. In fairness to Gyokeres, he has shown that he can do it against the European big boys and now suddenly five goals in 11 games does not look so bad.
And just like London buses, you wait ages for one – and then two come along at once. Three minutes after his first, Gyokeres got his second. Rice – yet again – put over a deep corner to the back post, Gabriel headed back across goal and then Gyokeres scored from close range.
This was a big result and performance from Arsenal. Bukayo Saka was terrific. They kept another clean sheet. There is so much to admire about Arsenal – and this season carries so much promise.
Arteta has built a squad deep enough – and good enough – to challenge on different fronts. And after blowing a European heavyweight like Atletico Madrid away, they will believe they can go one step further in this season’s Champions League.
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