Arsenal Clinch Top Two Finish with Thrilling 3-1 Win Over Inter

Arsenal are now guaranteed to finish as one of the top two sides in the league phase of this season’s Champions League after a 3-1 away win against Inter on Tuesday evening. Mikel Arteta’s side edged an entertaining first half in Milan’s San Siro, with two goals from Gabriel Jesus coming either side of a thumping equaliser by Petar Sucic. Jesus’ second came from a corner routine — Arsenal’s 19th such goal of the season — and welcomed the Serie A leaders to a world many sides in England have grown accustomed to. Arsenal introduced Declan Rice for Eberechi Eze in the second half, and later Viktor Gyokeres for the impressive Jesus. And it was the Swede who added their third, bending the ball into the net from outside the penalty area after a counter-attack set up by Gabriel Martinelli’s wonderful pass. James McNicholas, Stuart James and Anantaajith Raghuraman analyse the key moments from the game. What’s the benefit of finishing in the top two? Not only will Arsenal avoid the 16-team knockout round of play-offs next month, they are now guaranteed to play at home in the second legs of their prospective round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final ties. The value of that can be debated — Arsenal played at the Emirates Stadium for the first leg of their quarter-final last year, and it worked out rather well for them. A handsome 3-0 win against Real Madrid enabled Arsenal to go to the Bernabeu with a comfortable cushion. Having the second legs at home does mean that Arsenal can rely on a partisan crowd for the decisive part of each tie they are in. Given their strength at home in European competition, that could prove beneficial. James McNicholas Gyokeres’ best moment yet for Arsenal A perfect night for Arteta was crowned by that magnificent third goal, which was also surely the highlight of Gyokeres’ young Arsenal career. It started with an exquisite, outside-of-the-boot pass from Martinelli. There’s something about the sight of an Arsenal player using that part of the foot that will always evoke memories of Liam Brady and a truly special goal against Tottenham Hotspur (one for older readers, that, and those of us who lost hours watching the 101 Great Goals videotape we got for Christmas). Played from deep inside his own half, Martinelli bent the ball beautifully into the path of Gyokeres, who timed his run perfectly. The ball broke to the striker kindly from Bukayo Saka moments later, but there was nothing fortunate about the finish, which was curled superbly into the top corner. Stuart James Set pieces on tour You would think that the clues were there by now: Arsenal are brilliant at scoring from corners, and zonal marking isn’t a very effective way of stopping them doing so. Inter had every player back in their own penalty area, and nine men inside their six-yard box, when Saka delivered a deep inswinging corner just after the half-hour mark. Eight of Inter’s 10 outfield players were marking space and only one, Alessandro Bastoni, was stationed towards the back post, where Leandro Trossard, Cristhian Mosquera, Jurrien Timber and Mikel Merino all congregated for the visitors. Even allowing for the fact that Arsenal had hit the near post from their previous corner, it was still remarkable to see the way so many Inter players were caught under the ball. By the time Nicolo Barella realised that Trossard was free, it was too late. It’s hard to believe the 5ft 8in (173cm) Belgian was the intended target but at the same time, surely a back-post corner wasn’t that much of a surprise to Inter. Credit to Trossard for leaping and craning his neck to just about keep the ball alive. With goalkeeper Yann Sommer caught in no man’s land, the header came back off the crossbar and Jesus was on hand to nod home his second goal of the game. A familiar script if ever there was one. Stuart James Gabriel Jesus’ impressive demonstration Jesus gave an impressive demonstration of goal-poaching, showing exactly the kind of clinical instincts Arsenal lacked in the 0-0 Premier League draw against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, a game he spent almost the first hour of on the bench. Though he has never been particularly prolific in the past, this competition has frequently brought out the best of Jesus. The 28-year-old Brazilian now has six goals in eight Champions League starts for Arsenal — and 26 in 53 games in the competition overall if you count his efforts for previous club Manchester City. On Tuesday night, the first showed great opportunism and reflexes. Jesus reacted to a cross-shot from Timber, stretching out a leg acrobatically to poke the ball home. It will be fascinating to see whether Jesus’s goalscoring exploits now earn him a start in the Premier League at home against Manchester United on Sunday. James McNicholas What did Inter do well? Few teams have caused Arsenal’s defence problems this season but Inter gave them plenty to deal with in the first half tonight. Cristian Chivu’s side were wobbly themselves early on, struggling to build out from the back as Arsenal committed five or even six players to the press. Jesus’ opener came as a result of the pressure Inter were placed under. But from then on, they looked much better, settling into their preferred out-of-possession setup. Barella joined Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez in pressing the first line, with Bastoni jumping up from defence to support the second line. It created problems for Arsenal, who made some uncharacteristic errors in possession. They were dispossessed eight times in those opening 45 minutes — as many as in the entire game against Bayern Munich in this competition in November and one more than in the October defeat of Atletico Madrid. Sucic’s goal was a crisp finish that came from Arsenal’s indecision and exploiting the visitors’ gaping holes in midfield. Thuram and Luis Henrique were guilty of firing wide from counter-attacking opportunities. The other area in which Inter troubled Arsenal was going direct to Thuram, who caused Mosquera problems the entire night by receiving with his back to goal and turning it around the corner to willing runners. Ultimately though, this led to good openings but no goals. Anantaajith Raghuraman What did Arteta say? “We’re very proud, not only for tonight’s game but for what we’ve done in the competition so far in seven matches. With one game to go to be already in the position that we want to be. “A massive prize to the team because we know how difficult it is. And then tonight it was a test. Probably we didn’t have the necessity in terms of the points, but we really had the hunger and the desire to come to a place like this against a top, top side and prove what we are and what we can do. And I’m really, really pleased with what I’ve seen.” Arteta spoke about how pleased he was with Gabriel Jesus’ contribution. “We’ve been missing Gabi a lot. I think he’s going to raise his confidence level with the teams because we have different profiles in that position, that we have with the wingers in other positions. “And the fact that those players are playing at that level, Viktor comes in and has a great impact as well in the game. It only makes us better and that’s what we’re seeking. “I love the attitude of the team to come to this table in that atmosphere against the opponent that we have, because they are really good and they make it so hard for you, because they stretch you so much. In two passes, you’re open. But we played with a lot of intelligence, and when we have to manage the game, we’ve done it with the Champions League. “It’s a very important thing. And the starters made an impact, the subs made an impact, and that’s all the ingredients that you need at the end of the day. You want to have the option to win it.” What next for Arsenal?