Arsenal 6-0 Lens
by Layth Yousif
at Ashburton Grove
ARSENAL became the first side in Champions League history to have five different goalscorers before the break, as Mikel Arteta's rampant Gunners simply blasted away sorry Lens.
Goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Gabi Martinelli and Martin Odegaard emphatically helped seal top spot for the North Londoners with a game to spare. Prior to Jorginho colly slotting home a late second half penalty to make it a stunning half dozen.
What a difference six weeks makes.
In early October an unsteady Arsenal side were eclipsed at the atmospheric Stade Bolleart by Frank Haise's lively Lens side, with fears raised by many doubters that this Gunners side might be too raw for Europe's premier domestic tournament.
How wrong that lazy assumption was to be. On a bitterly cold North London evening, Arteta's thrusting young side blitzed their French visitors with five goals before referee Artur Dias had time to blow the half time whistle.
After the pyrotechnic show the Lens fans put on in the away end when lighting a raft of flares before kick-off, Havertz nearly carried on after he left off at Brentford last weekend, when his 10th minute header flew agonisingly wide of Lens' keeper Brice Samba's farm post, following Saka's excellent cross.
It was fitting the £65m midfielder graced the front of the official match programme as player of the moment, as only 180 seconds later, Havertz, as the relentlessly catchy song Arsenal supporters sing in his honour, scored again.
The 24-year-old German International grabbing his third of the season - and his second in five days after his last-gasp winner at Brentford - when forcing the ball home after Jesus' header into the centre for 1-0.
Jesus was to double the lead eight minutes later when coolly slotting past the increasingly beleaguered former Nottingham Forest keeper Samba in the visitor’s goal, to make it 2-0 and continue his excellent form in this competition by netting in his fourth consecutive Champions League match.
Worse was to follow for Franck Haise's side a mere 120 seconds later when the ball cannoned off Saka's chest and past Samba's despairing dive for 3-0. Saka is another of Arteta's young tyro's that have taken a shine to this competition, the strike making it three goals and four assists in the 22-year-old's five matches this season.
As the home support celebrated such an improbable early scoreline, the visitors in the away lit more flares, this time red in colour, almost in honour of Arteta's rampaging team.
Arsenal were to make it 4-0 four minutes later. Martinelli driving down the left flank, before cutting inside and unleashing a superb arrowing shot that flew into the far corner, as the ground erupted in deep joy.
In an ‘incroyable’ first half, there was still time for Gunners captain Odegaard to make it 5-0 with a wonderfully timed finish.
With the job very much done, a slew of understandable second half substitutions disrupted the flow of the match after the interval, before Jorginho slotted home his late spot-kick to make it 6-0.
No wonder Arteta said afterwards: “I didn’t even dream like this. We’ve done it in such a convincing way against a really good side. Everything happened the right way in the first 30 minutes.”
