MILAN - Arsenal made it seven wins from seven in the Champions League with a 3-1 victory over Inter Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday, where Gabriel Jesus scored a first-half double and Viktor Gyokeres netted late on.
The win guarantees Arsenal a top-two finish in the league phase which means home advantage in the second leg all the way through to the semi-finals. They sit top of the standings on 21 points, six ahead of Bayern Munich who host Union Saint-Gilloise on Wednesday.
"I'm very proud of the team," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told Amazon Prime.
"We said before the game, we needed a special performance and we've certainly done that today. We went to another level and to do it at the San Siro against one of the best teams in Europe is something else."
Jesus marked his first start in this season's competition in style, opening the scoring in the 10th minute and putting Arsenal back in front before the break after Petar Sucic equalised, with Gyokeres wrapping up the win six minutes from time.
"There's an unbelievable player and the bigger the game, the more comfortable he plays," Arteta added about Jesus.
"He deserves the man of the match award."
Last year's finalists Inter remain on 12 points after a third consecutive loss and drop to ninth in the table, leaving them in danger of missing out on an automatic place in the last 16.
Inter looked to have weathered the early storm, but Arsenal hit the front when Jurrien Timber's scuffed effort was finished off by Jesus' hooked shot from just outside the six-yard box.
The hosts bounced back eight minutes later, Nicolo Barella's initial attempt was blocked and the ball fell to Sucic who let fly from the edge of the area into the roof of the net as Arsenal conceded just their second goal of the competition.
Inter had a decent chance to take the lead but Marcus Thuram blasted his shot over and they were left ruing that miss when Arsenal scored 14 minutes before halftime.
ARSENAL BACK IN FRONT
Bukayo Saka sent a corner to the back post where Leandro Trossard kept the ball in play, heading back across goal from the byline to give the unmarked Jesus the simplest of headers.
Inter created chances in an open game with David Raya parrying Federico Dimarco's shot from a wide angle in the area and Arsenal took their lead into the break.
Trossard hit a volleyed attempt which went wide of the far post as Arsenal pushed for a third goal early in the second half.
Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni put in a last-ditch tackle with Saka ready to pull the trigger when through on goal but the home side continued to threaten at the other end with substitute Francesco Pio Esposito going close with a shot on the turn.
The pace dropped late on but Arsenal made sure of the win when substitute Gyokeres made a great run to collect Gabriel Martinelli's pass from his own half and after Saka lost the ball, Gyokeres curled a stunning strike into the top corner.
Arteta made seven changes to the side which drew 0-0 with Nottingham Forest on Saturday but Arsenal proved too strong for the Serie A leaders, as they march on in their bid to win the trophy for the first time.
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