UEFA Champions League, Matchday 2, 13/10/26

Davide Ancelotti’s Lille have been overwhelmed by the UEFA Champions League runners-up in a 7-minute blitz that saw Arsenal’s Jurriën Timber, Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka score in quick succession.

A month after their opening-day home defeat to Real Betis, Lille’s task was considerably tougher as they paid a visit to the UEFA Champions League runners-up, Arsenal. The Gunners maintained a 100% record last season in the opening phase of Europe’s premier club competition, and they picked up where they left off with a dominant away win to Napoli.

Davide Ancelotti’s men sat in a compact 4-1-4-1 formation that seemed to surprise the hosts. The Premier League champions had a slow start, although they needed some time to adjust to changes of personel as Riccardo Calafiori, Martin Ödegaard, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz were all given a breather. Lille were the first team to find the back of the net, but Ayase Ueda was in an offside position.

Arsenal gradually grew into the game to eventually carve out some chances, although Viktor Gyökeres had a poor first half. Berke Özer was alert to prevent Eberechi Eze and Bruno Guimarães from opening the scoring. For all of Lille’s sturdiness and discipline, they looked like they could be in serious trouble should Arsenal raise their standards.

The hosts duly did so, overwhelming Lille with sheer brute force. Les Dogues just could not hold the ball for sustained spells. Arsenal were in full flow and the expected outcome became reality when the Gunners drew first blood after the hour mark. It came from a nice dinked finish from Jurriën Timber. From then on, Lille collapsed on themselves, shipping two more goals in quick succession through a deflected effort from Eberechi Eze and a brilliant team move capped off by substitute Bukayo Saka.

The Gunners could see off the closing stages at walking pace. The Emirates Stadium crowd had a final moment to cherish as former Arsenal centre-forward Olivier Giroud took to the pitch.

He deserves credit for delaying what felt like the inevitable, but did he go to the ground too quickly for Timber’s goal? His distribution still remains poor.