Arsenal made it two wins from two in the Europa League as they beat Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in routine fashion. Mikel Arteta’s side looked comfortable after scoring two early goals through Eddie Nketiah and Rob Holding. Fabio Vieira added a third late on for the Gunners, who are two points clear of Bodo/Glimt and PSV Eindhoven. Arsenal next faces Liverpool in the Premier League.
Arsenal moved top of Europa League Group A with a straightforward 3-0 win against Bodo/Glimt at the Emirates.
After an emphatic north London derby victory at the weekend, Mikel Arteta’s side came into this game full of confidence. As expected, though, Arteta made wholesale changes to the side that beat Tottenham, keeping one eye on Arsenal’s big game against Liverpool on Sunday.
Matt Turner swapped in for Aaron Ramsdale in goal, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Rob Holding and Kieran Tierney came in for Ben White, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko in defence, while Fabio Vieira and Albert Sambi Lokonga replaced Martin Odegaard and Thomas Partey in midfield. In attack, Marquinhos and Eddie Nketiah got the nod while Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus dropped to the bench.
Even with their alternative line-up, it didn’t take long for Arsenal to find their rhythm. Vieira and Nketiah had chances to score early on before, with nine minutes on the clock, the former glanced the crossbar with a rising shot following a clever flick-on from the latter.
Bodo/Glimt tried to drop deep and frustrate their hosts, falling back into a 4-5-1 without the ball in an effort to close off the space in midfield. Arsenal refused to rush things, however and was rewarded for their patience when, with a little over 20 minutes gone, they got their opener.
Gabriel Martinelli dropped deep, picked up the ball and charged forwards before sliding a pass to Tierney on his left. He rattled the post with a belting shot, but Nketiah followed up for a simple tap-in.
Five minutes later, Arsenal were 2-0 up after Vieira teed up Holding for a thumping header. Bodo/Glimt’s defence crumbled as Xhaka forced an acrobatic save from goalkeeper Nikita Haikin at a free-kick, Tierney lashed past the far post, Nketiah squandered a one-on-one and Vieira fired wide from the edge of the area, leaving Arteta to wonder how they were not further ahead at the break.
Arsenal started the second half in much the same fashion, Martinelli tearing up the left flank and teeing up Xhaka for a shot which stung Haikin’s palms. Marquinhos headed wide on the rebound.
Bodo/Glimt rallied belatedly, Hugo Vetlesen, Joel Mvuka and Ulrik Saltnes getting shots away before Amahl Pellegrino forced Turner, on his home debut, into a fine save. Arteta made a triple change in an effort to freshen things up, with Martinelli, Xhaka and Marquinhos making way for Jesus, Odegaard and Saka.
Arsenal settled down after that and should have added a third when Odegaard played through Nketiah, who blazed high and wide with only the keeper to beat. Instead it would fall to Vieira to round off the scoring after a lovely dribble from Jesus, who set up his team-mate for an angled shot into the roof of the net.
Source: Eurosport.com
