Arsenal Beat Slavia Prague 2-1 in Champions League

Arsenal defeated Slavia Prague 2-1 in a UEFA Champions League match Wednesday in Prague.

Noni Madueke opened the scoring in the ninth minute. Viktor Gyökeres dispossessed a defender near midfield and played a through ball into space; Madueke raced past the defense and slid an angled shot through goalkeeper Nazar Domchak’s legs.

Gyökeres doubled Arsenal’s lead before halftime. He combined with Mikel Merino inside the area, opened his body, and clipped a shot across Domchak and into the far corner.

Wiktor Nowak converted David Jurasek’s cross for Slavia Prague’s consolation goal in stoppage time, ending Arsenal’s clean sheet.

Arsenal made six changes from their previous match — a 1-0 win over Liverpool — including starts for Ben White, Piero Hincapié, Martín Zubimendi, Merino, Eberechi Eze, and Gyökeres. Gyökeres’ goal was his first in the Champions League from open play since January against Kairat Almaty.

David Raya made a full-stretch save to push Oskar Kubiak’s header against the post. Defender Gabriel cleared a header off the line by Slavia substitute Ange N’Guessan.

The VAR reviewed an incident involving Merino and Nowak in the box but ruled it an accidental clash of heads.

Photo: Arne Müseler / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de
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