Arsenal Secure Top Spot: Dominant 3-1 Victory Over Inter Milan

We made it seven wins from seven to guarantee a top-two finish in this season’s Champions League thanks to an excellent display to beat Inter Milan in the San Siro. Gabriel Jesus put us in front after 10 minutes with a poacher’s effort but we were soon pegged back when Petar Sucic blasted into the top corner eight minutes later. However another Jesus goal after a corner got us back in front before half-time, and with five minutes to go, Viktor Gyokeres fired in from long range to put the cap on a famous win. We have now set our longest-ever winning streak in Europe’s premier club competition, and crucially will now finish no lower than second in the table, securing a passage to the last-16 as well as home advantage in the second leg in the knockout phase. Stunning start This battle between the leaders of the Premier League and Serie A featured the two goalkeepers who had kept the most Champions League clean sheets over the past three seasons, but for those thinking this would be a cagey affair, the opening moments changed that viewpoint. Within the first minute Myles Lewis-Skelly and Mikel Merino had seen efforts blocked in the box, and Bukayo Saka also saw an early deflected effort almost deceive Yann Sommer in the hosts’ goal - but 10 minutes in, that positivity paid off. As we probed around the edge of the Inter box again, Jurrien Timber who let fly but Ferderico Dimarco managed to get something on it. However, it spun into the path of the unmarked Jesus who instinctively prodded it past Sommer to send our supporters packed high up in the San Siro wild. But that joy lasted just eight minutes as Inter fought back. Having made a fine block in his area moments earlier, the returning Cristian Mosquera made another great sliding challenge as Marcus Thuram looked for a shooting opportunity, and after Nicolo Barella had seen an effort repelled by Myles Lewis-Skelly, the ball rolled out to Sucic on the edge of the box and he cracked a fierce drive into the top corner. Jesus bags brace Another dangerous counter-attack nearly led to us falling behind, but Mosquera did brilliantly to hold up Sucic when we were outnumbered 3v2, and forced him to pass to Thuram who shanked over the top - and that piece of defending proved vital as on 31 minutes we got back in front. After Saka won a corner on the right, he whipped it towards the back post where Leandro Trossard managed to get his head to it and nod it back across goal. Such was the tightness of the angle, it actually flicked off the crossbar before falling down for Jesus to nod it into the net and complete his brace - the 19th time we have scored from a corner this season. The entertaining affair continued with both teams keen to get into attacking positions as quickly and often as possible, and Saka and Luis Henrique would both spurn opportunities on the counter, while David Raya had to produce a double save just before half-time when Dimarco shot goalwards twice in quick succession but a combination of our keeper’s hands and feet got us into the break in front. We once again came out of the traps blazing, had three big chances in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Ebere Eze tested Sommer with a low effort that just lacked the required power to beat the Swiss showstopper, Trossard hooked an awkward volley just wide of the far post and only a fine slide tackle by Alessandro Bastoni denied Saka an easy finish after a fine Jesus pass. Strength in depth But back came Inter and substitute Pio Esposito did well when battling with Mosquera to get a shot on the turn away but watched it flash past Raya’s far upright, but the same player should have hit the target when a corner fell into his path but he drove it over the bar. But with four minutes to go, we sealed a famous win in style. The strength of our bench saw Mikel Arteta introduce Declan Rice, Gabriel, Ben white, Gabriel Martinelli and Gyokeres, and the latter combined to great effect to make it seven wins from seven. After an Inter corner was cleared out to him, Martinelli played a brilliant long ball into the opposition half for the Swede to chase. He powered onto it, held off a defender and found Saka who had joined the attack, and after the ball fortuitously fell into the path, Gyokeres swept it into the top corner from 25 yards to net his most impressive strike in red and white so far. That clinched our first Champions League victory in Italy since March 2008 when we beat AC Milan, but this night will live just as long in the memory as we now face Kairat on matchday eight next week, on the brink of becoming the first team in Champions League history to win all eight of their league phase games. FACTS AND STATS Gabriel Jesus has reached 10 goal involvements in the Champions League for us in 15 appearances (6 goals, 4 assists), only Andrey Arshavin (8), Alexis Sanchez (12) and Bukayo Saka (13) have done so for the club in fewer games in the competition. We have won seven successive Champions League games for the first time in our history; only Manchester City (10 in March 2024) have enjoyed a longer winning run in the competition among English sides. After winning their opening four games of this season’s Champions League, Inter have since lost each of their last three; it’s their joint-longest run in the competition along with September 2011 and September 2006. We have now won all 11 of our group games in the Champions League since a 1-0 defeat to Inter in November 2024, while Inter have lost each of their last two home games in the competition, having gone unbeaten in our 18 prior (W15 D3). Jesus netted his 25th and 26th Champions League goals on his 53rd appearance in the competition; the only Brazilians to reach 25 goals in fewer games are Neymar (44) and Jardel (45). Viktor Gyokeres’ third Champions League goal this season was our sixth from a substitute in this season’s competition, the joint-most in 2025/26 along with PSV (excl. own goals). What's next After four games on the road, we're back at Emirates Stadium on Sunday when we host Manchester United, and then we wrap up our Champions League league phase with a home game against Kairat Almaty the following Wednesday. Then we're back on our travels on Saturday, January 31 when we travel to Leeds United.