Arsenal have all-but secured a place in the Champions League quarter-final stage following a resounding 7-1 demolition of PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday night despite playing the encounter without a striker.
The hosts had the first opportunity of the evening when Ismael Saibari hit the crossbar early on but from then on it was Arsenal who took control and defender Jurrien Timber duly scored the opener in the 18th minute.
Three minutes later, Ethan Nwaneri doubled Arsenal’s lead when Myles Lewis-Skelly cut the ball back for the 17-year-old to score past PSV keeper Walter Benitez.
Mikel Arteta made a rare first half substitution, bringing on Ricardo Calafiori in place of Myles Lewis-Skelly after the youngster was fortunate to stay on the pitch after fouling Ledezma despite being on a yellow card already.
That precaution paid off as Mikel Merino added a third for the visitors as PSV failed to clear their lines and the Spaniard was in the right place at the right time to calmly slot into the bottom corner from close range just past the half-hour mark.
Noa Lang pulled one back for the hosts from the penalty spot in the 43rd minute, after Thomas Partey had fouled Luuk De Jong in the box, and offering PSV a glimmer of hope heading into the second half.
That hope was dashed with two goals in the opening two minutes of the second half.
Martin Odegaard made it 4-1 for Arsenal immediately after the restart when he scored from close range after goalkeeper Benitez had pushed a cross out into his path. Calafiori then combined well with Leandro Trossard, with the Belgian lobbing the ball over Benitez from close range to score Arsenal’s fifth.
Odegaard got his second of the evening and Arsenal’s sixth with an excellent individual effort before Calafiori registered his name on the scoresheet late on to seal an emphatic victory.
The win saw Arsenal register their record away win in the history of the UEFA Champions League ahead of the return leg at the Emirates Stadium next week in what should be a mere formality on paper.