Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres scored in the first half as Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 2-1 in the Champions League, holding on after Wiktor Nowak’s late goal. The win lifts Arsenal to 10 points from four league-phase games and keeps their European record unbeaten.
Prague, Czechia: Arsenal did the hard work in the first half and then held on. Two goals inside 38 minutes put Mikel Arteta’s side in command in Prague, and a late strike from Wiktor Nowak turned the closing stages into a test of nerve that the Gunners passed, 2-1.
Madueke finishes Gyökeres’ steal
Arsenal went ahead in the ninth minute. Gyökeres won the ball on the halfway line and fed Madueke, who ran on and slid an angled shot through the legs of Slavia goalkeeper Nazar Domchak.
The second goal arrived in the 38th minute. Gyökeres played a one-two with Mikel Merino inside the area and finished into the far side of the goal. Domchak kept the margin from growing, blocking a Gyökeres effort and tipping a Merino drive over the bar.
A second-half scare
Slavia came out sharper after the break. Oskar Kubiak forced a save from David Raya early in the half, and Gabriel cleared a header off the line from substitute Ange N’Guessan. VAR checked a possible penalty after Merino and Nowak collided, but ruled it an accidental clash of heads and play carried on.
The pressure told in the 90th minute, when Nowak tapped in from a cross on the left to make it 2-1. Arsenal still had to see out the closing moments, and Raya made a full-stretch save to push a late Kubiak header onto the post.
Third in the table, with work to do
The win was Arsenal’s third in four Champions League games, with one draw, and puts them on 10 points with a goal difference of plus five, third in the league phase. It also came three days after their 1-0 win at Liverpool in the Premier League. Slavia have one point from four games.
Arteta was candid about the second half. He described his team as very sloppy after the break, with too many balls given away and poor clearances, and said the first half had been played at a high level and should have produced three or four goals.
Result: Slavia Prague 1, Arsenal 2 (UEFA Champions League, league phase, Matchday 4, Prague, 4 November 2026; half-time 0-2). Arsenal: Madueke 9’, Gyökeres 38’. Slavia Prague: Nowak 90’.
