Arsenal beat Lille 3-0 with three second-half goals in Champions League

A goalless first half and a breakthrough after the hour

Arsenal dominated the first half at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, 13 October, but could not find a way past Lille until the 64th minute. The BBC described a laboured first half in which the front line of Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres failed to click. Mikel Arteta resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes at half-time. The deadlock broke when Jurriën Timber finished a pass from Madueke past goalkeeper Berke Ozer, a goal the Guardian described as coming from an unlikely source.

Three goals in seven minutes

Eze doubled the lead three minutes after Timber's goal, finishing first time from a cross by Bukayo Saka, who had come on as a substitute. Saka then scored the third in the 71st minute to complete a 3-0 win. Sources differ on that third goal: the BBC and the Guardian credit Saka, while Blick names Eze as the scorer with Kai Havertz providing the assist. The sequence of goals is set out below.

1. 64th minuteJurriën Timber scores the first goal from a pass by Noni Madueke
2. 67th minuteEberechi Eze scores the second goal from a cross by substitute Bukayo Saka
3. 71st minuteThird goal, credited to Bukayo Saka by the BBC and Guardian and to Eberechi Eze by Blick

Changes and selection

Arteta made five changes from the side that beat Leeds 2-1 in the Premier League at the weekend. The Guardian reported that Piero Hincapié and Martín Zubimendi were absent after both were injured during the warm-down following that win. Saka, Havertz and captain Martin Ødegaard were introduced from the bench, and the BBC said all three played a major role in the second-half goals. On the Lille side, head coach Davide Ancelotti, 37, kept Olivier Giroud, 40, on the bench, with the Guardian noting that Giroud came on late and received a standing ovation on his return to north London. Nabil Bentaleb anchored the Lille midfield, according to the Guardian.

Arsenal's run in the competition

Arsenal have now won twelve matches in a row, according to the Guardian, and have won 14 successive league-stage games in the competition. Timber's goal was the 36th Arsenal have scored at the Emirates in the league or group stage since Arteta returned the club to Europe's top table three years ago. The BBC noted that Arsenal won all eight of their league-phase games in the previous campaign before losing the final to Paris St-Germain. Arsenal beat Napoli 1-0 on the first matchday, and the Irish Examiner said only four of the 36 teams in the competition had a perfect start after this round.

Tribute to Ken Friar

The match came on a night of mourning for Ken Friar, Arsenal's life president, whose death at the age of 92 was confirmed earlier in the day, according to the Guardian. Friar worked his way up from the box office to club secretary and became managing director in the 1980s. The Irish Examiner said he had given the club 80 years of service dating back to 1945. The players wore black armbands as a mark of respect.