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3 days ago
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They like to talk about invincibility in this part of north London and it remains the only way to describe Mikel Arteta’s record with Arsenal in European group phase ties at the Emirates Stadium. It is now eight wins out of eight in the Champions League with zero goals conceded. If you want to add in the Europa League from earlier in his tenure, it is 14 victories out of 14 with two goals gainst.
Olympiakos had pitched up with a remarkable statistic of their own. They had won on their past three visits to this ground, the most recent two coming in the knockout rounds of the Europa League, even if the second in 2020-21 did not prevent an aggregate exit.
Nobody expected anything other than another home success, the latest demonstration of Arsenal’s power and depth despite this being a decent Olympiakos vintage. It was nervier than the home crowd would have liked in the closing stages, the visitors pushing and making for a few scares.
But this Arsenal team is not easily breached. We are into October and still they have let in just three goals in all competitions – only one of them in open play. Gabriel Martinelli scored for them in the 12th minute with Bukayo Saka, on as a substitute, taking a pass from the excellent Martin Ødegaard to make things safe in stoppage-time. Arsenal roll on.
Arsenal had to go back to November 2019 for the previous time they had failed to win a group tie at home in Europe; a loss to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League which led to the sacking of Unai Emery, the caretaker stint of Freddie Ljungberg and the arrival of Arteta, whose first European assignment would be against Olympiakos in the last 32. It ended in a last-gasp extra-time defeat here and an away goals exit.
There were numerous eye-catching lines around this encounter, many of them linked to history. When had Arsenal previously conceded a goal in a European group game on their own turf? It was against Rapid Vienna in the 4-1 Europa League win in December 2020.
Arteta made changes to his lineup – six of them from Sunday’s victory at Newcastle – as he was always likely to do. When he could recall players of the calibre of William Saliba and Ødegaard, it said plenty.
Ødegaard was in the mood at the outset, bringing the urgency on the ball; the incision. The captain sparked an early move that ended with Martinelli somehow glancing Myles Lewis-Skelly’s cross off target while alone in front of goal. It seemed to come off his shoulder.
No matter. It was not long before Arsenal led and it was Martinelli with the tap-in from a tight angle after Viktor Gyökeres saw the goalkeeper, Kostas Tzolakis, deflect his shot against the post. Ødegaard had played the pass to Gyökeres and it was all about the striker’s strength; he bulldozed in between two Olympiakos defenders to make it happen.
Martinelli was on his less favoured right flank; Leandro Trossard on the left. Martinelli only had to play in his teammate on 21 minutes when Arsenal broke with two against one. Instead, he tried to outrun the last man and could not get around him.
Arsenal ought to have had more before the interval. Gyökeres ignored a square pass for Martinelli after Ødegaard’s through-ball and shot at Tzolakis while Gabriel Magalhães went close following Ødegaard’s corner. Gyökeres swiped another chance high after a lovely ball from Trossard.
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Olympiakos, to their credit, came to play. Ayoub El Kaabi looped a header too close to David Raya just before Martinelli opened the scoring and their big chance of the first half came in the 32nd minute when Daniel Podence caught a volley sweetly from Santiago Hezze’s cross. Raya tipped over; an outstanding reflex save.
Evangelos Marinakis, the Olympiakos owner, was back in the stands a few weeks after watching one of his other clubs, Nottingham Forest, lose 3-0 here. In the away enclosure, the Olympiakos diehards banged their drums and sang their songs. They are considered one of Europe’s most passionate fanbases for good reason. Could the team give them something?
Arteta introduced Declan Rice for Mikel Merino as he sought to manage the second half. The idea seemed to be containment; Arsenal changed down through the gears. Trossard blew a couple of chances but there was some anxiety in the home seats; cries for the players to wake up as they survived a scare midway through the half. Podence’s cross was made to measure for El Kaabi, whose header was saved by Raya. The striker poked him the rebound but he was offside.
Arteta brought on Saka and Eberechi Eze while he was forced to change Gabriel Magalhães for Cristhian Mosquera. Ødegaard ought to have scored from close range only to be denied by Tzolakis and Olympiakos retained hope. Saka would snuff it out at the very last.
