Arsenal beat Sevilla 2-1 away from home to take control of their Champions League group. Gabriel Jesus set up Gabriel Martinelli for a superb breakaway goal on the stroke of half-time, before the Arsenal No 9 curled in an excellent second before Sevilla pulled one back.
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| Image: The moment Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus doubled his side's lead in their Champions League match at Sevilla |
After losing 2-1 to Lens in their previous European outing, the Gunners came through a difficult test against the seven-time Europa League winners.
Gabriel Martinelli got the visitors off and running by marking his Champions League debut with a goal, racing on to Jesus' brilliant ball and rounding the goalkeeper in first-half stoppage time.
Jesus then increased Arsenal's lead early in the second half with a superb strike into the top corner.
Sevilla, backed by a vocal home crowd, got back into the game when Nemanja Gudelj headed in from a set-piece.
From then on, Arsenal had to withstand some pressure as the hosts tried to find an equaliser, and David Raya tipped Mariano's shot on to the crossbar, although it may not have counted because of a possible handball.
Mikel Arteta's side then suffered a late blow as Jesus went off with a suspected hamstring injury, but they held firm to secure a victory that moves them top of Group B.
Gabriel Jesus stole the show as his superb goal and assist fired Arsenal to a 2-1 win at Sevilla to put the Gunners in control of Champions League Group B.
The Brazilian striker's stunning turn and assist sent Gabriel Martinelli on his way to a debut Champions League goal on the stroke of half-time, before Jesus bettered it himself after the break with a superb curling finish to put Arsenal 2-0 up.
Arsenal's deficit was halved when Nemanja Gudelj headed home from a corner on the hour mark and despite some heavy Sevilla pressure in an electric Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, some impressive saves from the much-maligned David Raya - including one in the last moments of the game - maintained the Gunners' lead until full-time.
The Gunners' win plus Lens' draw with PSV Eindhoven means they are four points clear of third-place in the group and they will qualify for the knockout stages if they beat Sevilla in their next game on November 8, and Lens beat PSV on the same night.
The one blot for Arsenal on a successful night was Jesus limping off with a hamstring injury with 10 minutes to go.
Asked by Sky Sports News about his injury, Jesus himself replied: "Let's see. I was tired, to be honest. But I never want to go off. I always respect the manager's decision. It was unlucky. Let's see what it is."
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports: "He felt something in his hamstring, so we will see. Straight away asked to be subbed which is not good news because Gabi is not a player who does that at all. So we have to wait and see in the next few days."
Arsenal team news
David Raya continued in goal for Arsenal despite his error against Chelsea on Saturday, with Aaron Ramsdale back on the bench.
Takehiro Tomiyasu replaced Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back in Arsenal's only change from the 2-2 draw at Chelsea.
Gabriel Martinelli made his Champions League debut while Thomas Partey missed out with a muscle injury.
Player ratings
Sevilla: Nyland (6); Navas (6), Ramos (6), Gudelj (7), Acuna (6); Sow (6), Soumare (6), Rakitic (7); Lukebakio (6), En-Nesyri (6), Ocampos (7)
Subs:Mariano (7), Lamela (6), Sanchez (n/a)
Arsenal: Raya (7); White (6), Saliba (7), Gabriel (7), Tomiyasu (8); Jorginho (6), Rice (8), Odegaard (6); Saka (7), Jesus (9), Martinelli (8)
Subs: Havertz (6), Trossard (n/a), Nketiah (n/a)
Player of the match:Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)
What Arsenal Manager Said —
Mikel Arteta says not many teams win here, we had to suffer.
He said Gabriel Jesus changed Arsenal's world when he joined the club, but conceded he is worried about the forward's hamstring injury.
Arsenal manager Arteta hailed his side's resilience to put their most recent Champions League disappointment away at Lens behind them to respond in brilliant style in Seville.
"Very happy to win in here, not many teams have won here in the last 10 years in Europe. And we've done it," Arteta told TNT Sports.
"I really liked the team in the first 60 to 65 minutes because we played the game we wanted. After we went 2-0 up, we should have scored a third one and we had chances to score it.
"We didn't and then one corner, the first action where they had something, they scored from and from there they have the experience and a lot of presence, as well a lot of belief to win the game and we suffered.
"It's about experiences and learning from those experiences. When you lose, you sometimes learn much more than when you win and it was a very different team that played in Lens. There were moments when we were very dominant and then we had to suffer, and it's necessary to suffer to win a game."
The Arsenal manager also hailed Jesus for bringing the "big moments" required to win the game.
"That's what you need," he added. "You need magic moments in big games, you need the big players to step up and create those big moments. We need that: players performing at their best and he did something special."
Arsenal's remaining Champions League fixtures...
November 8: Sevilla (H) - kick-off 8pm
November 29: Lens (H) - kick-off 8pm
December 12: PSV (A) - kick-off 5.45pm
What's next?
Arsenal are back in Premier League action on Saturday against Sheffield United at Emirates Stadium; kick-off 3pm.
For Sevilla, they travel to Cadiz in LaLiga on Saturday; kick-off 8pm.
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