Clean sheets and bench strength boosting Arsenal, Arteta says after Olympiacos win

Arsenal’s beefed-up bench strength and habit of keeping clean sheets are putting the club in position for another good run in the Champions League, coach Mikel Arteta said on Wednesday after his team battled past Greek side Olympiacos.

Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli pounced to convert a rebound in the 12th minute to reward the north London club’s early domination, but they missed a host of chances before a stoppage-time effort by substitute Bukayo Saka sealed the 2-0 win.

“We had another two or three big chances and if you don’t put them away in this competition you have to be careful,” Arteta said.

Olympiacos boasted an enviable record against the Gunners, winning on their last three visits to the Emirates Stadium and the Greek side recovered from their early setback to make it an uncomfortable night at times for the hosts.

Arteta said his side would have scored more had it not been for some outstanding saves from Olympiacos keeper Kostas Tzolakis, but also pointed to his side’s 11 clean sheets in their last 14 Champions League matches.

Having spent over £250m (R5.8bn) on new players in the close-season, Arteta also has much greater depth to his squad than at any time since he took charge in 2019.

On Wednesday, he brought on five substitutes and made six changes from the side that came from behind to snatch a late 2-1 Premier League win against Newcastle United on Sunday.

“We had the feeling too that physically we were dropping because we played a really intense match in Newcastle a few days ago,” he said. “The ones that came in again, they lifted the level, they helped us to win the game.”

One of the players that came off on Wednesday was key defender Gabriel, but Arteta said it was a precautionary move and that the Brazilian should be fine for Saturday’s Premier League game against West Ham United.

He also praised new striker Viktor Gyokeres’ work rate despite the Swede not scoring in his last few matches.

“We want him to be scoring goals, but if he doesn’t do that, at least to do everything else he is doing for the team, because he’s helping the team a lot.

Apart from the three points, the biggest plus for Arsenal was the sight of captain Martin Odegaard back pulling the strings after a season so far disrupted by niggling injuries.

“I think he played a really, really good game. “Every level defensively and attacking, and he looked really focussed.”

Martinelli scored for the second successive Champions League match with his early close-range effort.

When the Brazilian pounced to convert a rebound in the 12th minute to reward Arsenal for theior early domination it looked like being a routine night for the north London club.

But they were made to work hard for the win that puts them on six points from their opening two group games and needed a stoppage-time effort by substitute Saka to seal it.

Also on Wednesday night, Monaco salvaged a 2-2 draw at home to Manchester City with a last-gasp penalty by Eric Dier after the visitors failed to make the most of their domination.

Dier buried a penalty in the 90th minute to cancel out Erling Haaland’s first-half double, after Jordan Teze’s early equaliser for the French side.

Pep Guardiola’s team, who had opened their campaign with a 2-0 win against Napoli, now have four points while Monaco are in the elimination zone on one point after their 4-1 defeat at Club Brugge in the first round of games.

City travel to Villarreal next on October 21 and Monaco will entertain Tottenham Hotspur the next day.

Paris St Germain battled back from a goal down to grab a 2-1 win over Barcelona in a gripping, with the defending champions overcoming a raft of injuries to secure a valuable victory away from home.

Barcelona started well and their pressure paid off in the 19th minute when Marcus Rashford delivered a precise pass across the box to Ferran Torres, who slid in to beat the offside trap and slot past PSG goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier.

PSG, however, responded tenaciously despite missing captain Marquinhos and their starting attacking trio of Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue.

They took control of proceedings and equalised in the 38th minute when Nuno Mendes embarked on a dazzling run down the left, beating three defenders before setting up 19-year-old Senny Mayulu, who finished clinically into the bottom corner.

After substitute Lee Kang-in hit the post with a shot from the edge of the box in the 83rd, they finally scored a deserved winner from a quick counter in the 90th, with Achraf Hakimi crossing for substitute Goncalo Ramos to fire home from close range.

Reuters