Arsenal marked their return to the Champions League with a thumping 4-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven in the opening group-stage fixture at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Gunners' first-half supremacy was reflected in the scoreline, with Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus all making the net ripple inside the first 38 minutes, before captain Martin Odegaard completed the rout midway through the second half.
Mikel Arteta's side now sit pretty at the top of Group B, while PSV, who were outclassed by their North London counterparts at the Emirates, have slumped to the bottom of the group, sitting behind both Sevilla and Lens who played out a 1-1 draw in Spain.
Arsenal gave the impression that they were making up for lost time after six-and-a-half years away from Europe's most prestigious club competition, and despite a confident start from PSV, it took just eight minutes for the Emirates faithful to erupt when starboy Saka slotted home the Gunners' opening goal.
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Odegaard's initial shot just inside the penalty area was kept out by PSV goalkeeper Walter Benitez, but the Argentine could only parry his effort into the path of Saka, who was the quickest to react before firing a right-footed shot across the face of goal and into the far corner.
Saka then turned provider to help the Gunners double their lead on the 20-minute mark, bursting down the right flank on the counter-attack before picking out Trossard on the edge of the area to sweep a brilliant first-time strike into the bottom corner.
Arsenal could have been three or four goals ahead inside the opening 25 minutes, but Benitez managed to thwart two decent efforts from Jesus. However, at the third time of asking, the Brazilian put Arsenal three goals ahead seven minutes before the interval.
Trossard ran in behind the PSV defence on the left before looking up and curling the perfect cross to the feet of Jesus, who rifled a thunderous shot into the far corner.
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PSV struggled to lay a glove on Arsenal in the first half, and little changed for the Dutch visitors after the break despite coming forward in decent numbers on occasions; for the majority of their breaks into the final third, Declan Rice was in the right place at the right time to regain possession for the hosts, while Gunners goalkeeper David Raya was rarely tested between the sticks.
Arteta rang the changes midway through the second half, with Jesus, Saka and Trossard all making way at the expense of Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe, and the latter two managed to combine before captain Odegaard scored Arsenal's fourth.
Smith Rowe initially over-cooked his through-ball to Nelson on the left, but Arsenal's No.24 recycled possession and cut inside before teeing up Odegaard, who drilled a low left-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom corner to wrap up the victory in style.
Arsenal will now turn their attention to the first North London derby of the season when they play hosts rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday, while PSV will look to return to winning ways then face newly-promoted Almere in the Eredivisie on Saturday.
Oliver Thomas
