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Arsenal extended their Champions League winning run to seven games with a 3-1 win against Inter.
Mikel Arteta's men have not yet dropped a point in Europe this season and are guaranteed a top-two finish.
Gabriel Jesus was the hero for Arsenal in Milan, 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 goals secure top two finish in Champions League
The big games keep coming thick and fast for Arsenal. And they don't come much bigger than their next outing in the Premier League.
They face one of their oldest rivals at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday as Manchester United make the trip to north London.
Buoyed by the weekend's win against neighbours Manchester City, Michael Carrick will bring a side flowing with confidence who will be desperate to upset the table toppers. But, in this form, Arsenal are going to take some stopping.
We're covering that game live here on The Athletic, so make sure to join us again!
Clearly not satisfied with just being top of the Premier League, Arsenal are also streaking clear at the top of the Champions League league-phase table.
A staggering record and one that means they are guaranteed a top-two finish and the benefit of home advantage in the last 16.
As for Inter, they have dropped out of the top eight and face a tough trip to Dortmund in their final game next Wednesday.
There is an excellent chance that Arsenal become the first team to win all eight matches in a single league-phase campaign.
They go into next week's visit of Kairat Almaty having won seven straight Champions League games for the first time in the club's history. Among English teams, only Manchester City have gone on a longer winning run in this competition (10, May 2023 – March 2024).
In the end, Arsenal did more with less of the ball than Inter tonight — albeit slightly with 49 per cent possession to their opponent’s 51.
But the quality of the chances they created is what made the real difference, with an xG tally of 2.1 to Inter’s 1.3.
An impressive night.
Want to know more about how Arteta masterminded another vital win tonight?
What about the benefits and pitfalls of Arsenal finishing in the top two, which is now confirmed?
Well, you can dive into The Briefing below, where our writers have tackled the big topics.
GO FURTHER
Inter 1 Arsenal 3 – Gabriel Jesus and Viktor Gyokeres goals secure top two finish in Champions League
A top two finish now secured, Arsenal can look forward to home advantage in the knockouts.
This match was also their last of four successive matches on the road.
You could certainly see it here!
Open-play goals have been hard to come by for Viktor Gyokeres.
On a night where his competition in his position — Gabriel Jesus — played well, he also laid down an important reminder.
This was not a vintage Inter performance — or at least, not close to the swashbuckling performances that saw them reach the final of last season’s Champions League.
They had their moments but looked a bit shell shocked by Arsenal’s fast start and then appeared to run out of steam.
Mikel Arteta must be a very happy man at the moment. Seven must be his lucky number; Arsenal have won seven from seven in the Champions League and are seven points clear atop the Premier League — here is what the Spaniard had to say to Prime Video after the match.
💬 “Very proud of the team. We talked before the game about needing a special performance, a very complete performance against a top side — we've certainly done that tonight.”
He was then asked what pleased him most about his evening's victory.
“The courage, the attitude, the willingness to go to another level. We've done it at home against two top sides in the competition but to do it in San Siro against the best team in Serie A is something else.”
To top it all off, Gabriel Jesus takes home the man of the match award.
A guaranteed starter now?
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.
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