A much-changed Arsenal side eased past Norwegian minnows Bodo/Glimt, with Eddie Nketiah, Rob Holding and Fabio Vieira scoring to put the Gunners top of their Europa League group with a 3-0 win.
With a Super Sunday clash with Liverpool on the horizon this weekend, Arsenal made eight changes from the side that beat Tottenham 3-1 last weekend, but still raced into an easy first-half lead through Nketiah’s and Holding’s poacher-style goals.
Bodo/Glimt were backed by five per cent of their 55,000-strong town at the Emirates Stadium and did improve after the break – but were kept at arm’s length by Arsenal all night.
Gunners substitute Gabriel Jesus was brought off the bench by Mikel Arteta and the Brazilian superbly set up Fabio Vieira, who crashed high into the net on his first home start for the Gunners.
Arteta’s Gunners came out of the blocks flying and were inches away from taking the lead inside the first 10 minutes through Vieira.
Nketiah laid the ball off to him in the penalty area, only for the Portuguese midfielder to strike the top of the bar with a rasping drive. But it wasn’t long until the woodwork went in Arsenal’s favour.
Gabriel Martinelli fed Kieran Tierney down the left on the break and when the Scot hit the inside of the post with a powerful effort, Nketiah was on hand to tap home the rebound into an empty net.
Four minutes later, Arsenal had a second. Vieira’s corner was cleared as far as the midfielder, who crossed for Holding at the back post to head home, with no Bodo defender around to mark him.
It could have been more before half-time for Arsenal, who limited Bodo to just one half-chance in the first period. Granit Xhaka tested goalkeeper Nikita Haikin’s gloves with a free-kick right on the edge of the area, while Vieira pulled another chance in the box wide of goal.
The visitors did improve after the interval, with American goalkeeper Matt Turner, making his home debut for Arsenal, pulling off a solid low save to deny Joel Mugisha from inside the box.
Arteta, perhaps unimpressed by his side’s start to the second half, brought on Jesus, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka before the hour mark.
Both Saka and Odegaard combined to give Nketiah a one-on-one chance with just over 10 minutes left, but the Arsenal forward failed to seal the result as he clipped the ball over the Bodo bar.
Instead, Jesus took it upon himself to make the scoreline a realistic reflection of the match, showing excellent footwork to nip down the left and cut back for Vieira, who slammed home. (Sky)
