Gyökeres goal and assist help Arsenal survive late Slavia Prague surge

Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 2-1 in the Champions League after Viktor Gyökeres contributed a goal and an assist, but needed a series of defensive interventions to protect their advantage. According to the Guardian's match report, the visitors were pushed hard in the second half before extending their unbeaten run on the road in Europe to 10 matches.

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Mikel Arteta made six changes following Arsenal's victory at Liverpool on Sunday. His reshuffled side took the lead after eight minutes when Slavia failed to deal with a long ball from David Raya. Gyökeres reached it ahead of his marker, controlled it with his chest and released Noni Madueke to score. It was the Swedish striker's third assist in five appearances.

Mikel Merino had three opportunities to increase the lead before the half-hour, including a chance created by Madueke that goalkeeper Nazar Domchak stopped. Arsenal eventually added their second seven minutes before the interval. Gyökeres combined with Merino inside the penalty area and curled his finish into the far corner, giving the visitors a two-goal cushion heading into the break.

Slavia responded with a more aggressive approach after bringing on Ange N'Guessan for the second half. Ezri Konsa and Declan Rice received bookings as Arsenal came under pressure. A deflected long-range attempt from David Jurasek went narrowly wide, and the ensuing corner brought two goal-line clearances from Gabriel Magalhães within seconds. Those interventions prevented the home side from immediately reducing the deficit.

Raya then stretched to push Oskar Kubiak's header against the post, but Slavia finally scored in the last minute of normal time through Wiktor Nowak at the far post. Mikulas Konecny forced another save from Raya during stoppage time as Arsenal held on. Slavia finished with 18 shots to Arsenal's 12, illustrating how significantly the balance of the contest had shifted after the interval.

Arteta criticised Arsenal's second-half standards afterwards, saying the performance had fallen short of the instructions discussed at half-time. For Slavia, the defeat extended their winless sequence in the European Cup and Champions League to 23 matches. The Guardian reported that this equalled the competition record shared by AEK Athens and FCSB, despite the Czech side's sustained late pressure.