Football – Arsenal stormed to a third successive Champions League victory by blowing away Atletico Madrid 4-0 thanks to a devastating second-half broadside at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.
What had been a compelling clash with little between the sides became an Arsenal rout with goals by Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and a brace from Viktor Gyokeres leaving Diego Simeone’s side shell-shocked.
Shortly after Julian Alvarez hit the crossbar for the visitors, Gabriel broke the deadlock by heading in a Declan Rice free kick in the 57th minute.
Martinelli finished off a sweeping move seven minutes later and Gyokeres then prodded his first goal of the night via a deflection as Arsenal ran riot, the Swede ending a nine-game scoring drought for club and country.
Gyokeres then bundled in his second as Atletico were again unable to deal with a set piece.
Victory extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run to nine games and put them on nine points in the group phase, well on the way to qualifying for the knockout phase.
l Manchester City’s Erling Haaland extended his remarkable scoring streak to 12 straight matches as his side recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory at Villarreal.
Bernardo Silva also got on the scoresheet in the first half during a dominant display by the visitors at La Ceramica.
Pep Guardiola’s City side took the lead in the 17th minute, when Rico Lewis, marauding down the right, delivered a precise pass into the box for Haaland to fire home a first-time effort from the edge of the six-yard box.
City continued to press and doubled their lead in the 40th, again thanks to an assist by Lewis from the right, crossing to captain Silva who headed in unmarked from close range. City’s dominance ensured a straightforward victory as they continue their strong form in this season’s Champions League, with two wins and a draw.
l Holders Paris St Germain scored three times in seven minutes at the end of a rollercoaster first half on the way to crushing hosts Bayer Leverkusen 7-2, after both teams played with 10 men for almost an hour.
Topping the league phase table after three matches, PSG, whose Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele scored on his comeback from injury, took a seventh-minute lead through Willian Pacho’s far-post header.
Leverkusen had the chance to level with Alejandro Grimaldo’s 25th-minute penalty but the Spaniard hit the post.
It got worse for the hosts when captain Robert Andrich was sent off for elbowing Desire Doue in the 32nd minute. PSG went down to 10 men when Illia Zabarnyi felled Christian Kofane to give the hosts another spot-kick.
Aleix Garcia equalised but Leverkusen’s joy only lasted three minutes with Doue putting the visitors back in front before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia made it 3-1 with a shot off the post and Doue struck again to virtually ensure a third straight win in the competition for PSG this season.
Nuno Mendes slotted home to make it 5-1 in the 50th minute before Garcia pulled a goal back four minutes later, but Dembele scored in the 66th minute with an easy tap-in and Vitinha completed the rout.
l Harvey Barnes came off the bench to score twice and Anthony Gordon netted for the third consecutive Champions League game as Newcastle beat Benfica 3-0 at St James’ Park on Tuesday to earn the hosts back-to-back wins in the competition.
In a rip-roaring first half with chances at both ends, Gordon put Newcastle ahead in the 32nd minute.
Newcastle took charge after the break but had to wait until the 70th minute to double their lead when keeper Nick Pope provided the assist for Barnes to score.
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