Gyökeres goal and assist help Arsenal withstand late Slavia Prague surge

Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 2-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Viktor Gyökeres providing a goal and an assist before the visitors endured a difficult finish. According to The Guardian’s match report, David Raya made important late saves as Slavia threatened to erase a two-goal deficit. The result extended Arsenal’s unbeaten sequence away from home in Europe to 10 matches.

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Gyökeres helped create the breakthrough after eight minutes, taking advantage when Slavia’s defenders allowed a long ball from Raya to bounce. The striker reached it ahead of his marker, controlled it with his chest and supplied Noni Madueke, who finished to put Arsenal ahead. It was Gyökeres’s third assist in five appearances, adding another contribution during a period in which he had struggled for goals.

Arsenal had opportunities to increase their advantage before the interval. Mikel Merino was unable to convert three chances before the half-hour, including one created by Madueke that goalkeeper Nazar Domchak kept out. Gyökeres then made it 2-0 seven minutes before half-time, combining with Merino inside the penalty area and curling his finish into the far corner.

Slavia responded after the break, introducing Ange N’Guessan and putting Arsenal’s defence under sustained pressure. Ezri Konsa and Declan Rice were both booked, while a deflected long-range attempt from David Jurasek went narrowly wide. From the ensuing corner, Gabriel Magalhães cleared two headers off the line in quick succession, preventing the home side from reducing the deficit at that stage.

Raya subsequently tipped Oskar Kubiak’s header against the post, but Slavia finally scored in the last minute of normal time when Wiktor Nowak finished at the far post. Mikulas Konecny forced another save from Raya during stoppage time. Slavia finished with 18 attempts to Arsenal’s 12, a measure of the pressure that followed the visitors’ stronger first half.

Mikel Arteta, who had made six changes to his starting side, criticised Arsenal’s second-half performance afterwards, saying the team had fallen well below its standards despite a half-time warning that the contest remained unfinished. For Slavia, the defeat stretched their winless run in the European Cup and Champions League to 23 matches. The Guardian reported that the sequence equalled the competition record shared by AEK Athens and FCSB.