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Arsenal have beaten Inter 3-1 in their Champions League league-phase clash in Milan.
Mikel Arteta's men have won all seven of their matches in Europe this season and have guaranteed a top-two finish.
Gabriel Jesus was the hero for Arsenal, scoring twice in the first half either side of a superb equaliser from Petar Sucic. Viktor Gyokeres came off the bench to seal another win for the visitors, curling a lovely strike into the top corner.
Arsenal have qualified for the Champions League last 16, while Inter have dropped out of the top eight.
Check out The Athletic’s schedule of live coverage this week here.
GO FURTHER
Inter 1 Arsenal 3 – Gabriel Jesus and Viktor Gyokeres guide Arsenal to top two finish in Champions League
Gabriel Jesus had to wait over two years for a goal in the Champions League, after that lengthy spell on the sidelines with a horrible injury.
Judging by the smile on his face after those goals and the win, it was worth the wait.
A great new dimension added to Arsenal’s attack since his return.
He scored twice tonight with some well-taken chances and impressed from the off — here’s what Gabriel Jesus had to say when speaking to Prime Video:
💬 “A dream night. It’s always a dream to be a footballer. I watched when I was a kid, a lot of Serie A. So to be here in this stadium adn score here brings tears to my eyes.
“There is always a reason that things happen. Good things or problems, I learned that in my 11 months out of the pitch. Without Jesus, I would not be here.
“It’s always difficult to play against Inter, last season we came here and lost. We had a difficult game, they are a top team with top players. At the end, we scored from the chances we had. It’s an amazing feeling but we want to keep going because we have another match at the weekend.”
Nine matches in all in the Champions League tonight. After we brought you the news of Manchester City's shock defeat to Bodo/Glimt, European champions PSG were also stunned in Lisbon by Sporting CP.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid thumped Monaco at the Bernabeu and an under-pressure Thomas Frank watched his Tottenham side pick up a big win against Dortmund.
Things changed for Inter in that second half when Esposito came on the pitch — he immediately caused problems for Mosquera and started dragging him around.
He came close with a few chances but in the end it was not enough to get Inter back within touching distance.
Eberechi Eze’s minutes have been fairly limited of late, so that will have been a welcome hour of football for him.
It was somewhat surprising to see him brought off at that stage, though, given Arsenal were fairly comfortable and leading.
He put in a decent performance without really lighting up the pitch tonight.
Namely — who deserves to start as striker against Manchester United on Sunday after both Gyokeres and Jesus got on the score sheet?
My vote goes to Jesus, who showed the type of movement and instinctive finishing that has eluded Gyokeres in large parts of this season.
But having that dilemma in the first place is a pretty nice issue.
With seven wins in a row in the Champions League this season, Arsenal have set a new club record.
Is everything coming together at the right time?
There is plenty of football still to be played — 20 years on from their last Champions League final appearance, they seem in their strongest place since that time.
That win seals a guaranteed top-two finish for Arsenal with a game to spare.
Expect plenty of changes in their final league phase match — but they have that rather nice 100 per cent win record to protect against Kairat.
Arsenal have not blinked against some big opponents in this year’s Champions League, sealing wins against both Bayern Munich and Inter.
Mikel Arteta looks happy — you can understand why.
A near-perfect performance from Arsenal despite plenty of changes to the starting line-up.
A first win in Italy since 2008 and their unbeaten record continues in this year’s Champions League.
90+1’ Inter 1-3 Arsenal
He is penalised for dragging back Dimarco in a needless foul and picks up a card.
That means he will be suspended for Arsenal’s final league phase game as well as Merino for accumulating too many cards.
90’ Inter 1-3 Arsenal
The Inter fans are leaving in their droves — which is fair enough given the score.
86’ Inter 1-3 Arsenal
A stunning night for Arsenal, capped off with a much-needed goal for Gyokeres.
He showed great movement to get on the end of a stunning outlet ball from Martinelli, then got a touch of luck when he bounced the ball off the back of a defender as he raced through on goal.
But the finish was clinical and despite Sommer’s best efforts, out of his reach.
84’ Inter 1-3 Arsenal
That will wrap up the points! A brilliant pass from Martinelli and a great strike from Gyokeres look set to help Arsenal extend their winning Champions League run to seven matches.
79’ Inter 1-2 Arsenal
He likes scoring in this competition, particularly when coming off the bench to run defenders ragged.
So can Gabriel Martinelli add to Arsenal’s lead?
He replaces Trossard.
74’ Inter 1-2 Arsenal
Viktor Gyokeres enters the field and Gabriel Jesus makes way.
Meanwhile, Mosquera — who was obviously struggling against Esposito — is off and Gabriel is on.
73’ Inter 1-2 Arsenal
There is a bit more fire in this one now as Merino is pretty late on Dimarco and takes his legs out.
Bastoni does not like the challenge — I can’t blame him — and shoves Merino to the ground.
Both Bastoni and Merino get yellow cards, with the latter now suspended for Arsenal’s next game.
71’ Inter 1-2 Arsenal
Sebastiano Esposito has looked lively for Inter since coming off the bench. He’s tall and physical, an academy graduate, and has cracked into the first team after netting 20 goals in 73 games for Spezia during a two-year loan.
Mosquera is struggling against him.
69’ Inter 1-2 Arsenal
Another chance there for Esposito, who has been a real asset to Inter since coming on.
He has the physicality to hold off his opponent and has not been afraid to pull the trigger. Some sharp play has put him in good positions, as he fires over from a tight angle in the box.
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