Mikel Arteta hailed Kai Havertz as "unbelievable" after the Germany international's star turn against Paris Saint-Germain.
The 25-year-old put Arsenal on the path to a 2-0 home win over PSG in the Champions League on Tuesday with a well-timed run and header in the 20th minute.
After taking 10 games to get off the mark for Arsenal last season, it was his fifth goal for the club in the 2024-25 campaign and he was deservedly named Player of the Match.
Havertz got both of his two shots on target, while also playing one key pass as he scored just his second goal in his last 14 Champions League appearances, with his other goal coming for Arsenal in November 2023 against Lens.
"He has been unbelievable. His football brain, the way he understands space, his timing, he brings people together," said Arteta.
"His work ethic is incredible and now he is a real threat around the box. He is one of our main players at the moment."
It was a satisfying night for Arteta, whose team dominated one of Europe's heavyweights in the first half and then comfortably contained them after the break, with Bukayo Saka doubling the Gunners' tally before half-time.
Saka has now been directly involved in eight goals in six home Champions League appearances for Arsenal, with all five of his goals coming at the Emirates. In Champions League history, only three players have more goals with all coming at one stadium – Diogo Rincon at NSK Olimpijs'kyj, Esteban Cambiasso at the San Siro and Lee Bowyer at Elland Road (six goals each).
"Really, really happy with the performance. We played an opponent that has a lot of personality, is really difficult to deal with when you don't have the ball," he said.
"The first half was very dominant and we created a lot of chances and then the second half was a different story.
"We suffered much more than we should have done. The Champions League brings different demands but I think we handled it really well."
Victory, following the 0-0 draw away to Atalanta, propelled Arsenal to eighth in the 36-team table and Arteta said it was far too early to start predicting how many more wins his side will need to qualify automatically for the last 16.
"I'm not even looking at the table," he said. "But I think it will be a long journey."
Another boost for Arsenal was the sight of new signing Mikel Merino coming off the bench for his first appearance in the second half after missing the start of the season with injury.
On the downside, full-back Jurrien Timber was forced off at half-time with a muscle issue.
"He was unbelievable in the first half, but he felt something muscular and he wasn't certain," Arteta said of the Dutchman.
"So I didn't want to take any risks. He's been out for a year and he's played a lot of minutes, probably more minutes than we would have wanted in the past few weeks."
The Gunners' defensive grit was also on show. Arsenal have kept 17 clean sheets in 32 games in all competitions in 2024, the most of any Premier League side. Indeed, across Europe's big-five leagues this year, only Real Madrid have kept more (18).
Dom Rep’s Cibao, Moca take unbeaten records into Carib Cup semis after contrasting wins in final group fixtures
Domincan Republic’s Cibao FC and Moca FC will take their rich vein of form into the semi-finals of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup as both closed out the group stages with contrasting 4-1 and 2-1 victories over Haiti’s Ouanaminthe FC and Antiguan outfit Grenades FC on Tuesday.
The results saw both teams consolidating their hold on the top two spots in Group B with unbeaten records. They ended on 10 points each, but Cibao FC took group honours by virtue of a slightly better goal difference.
Port of Spain, Grenades, and Ouanaminthe all ended on two points each in that exact order.
As they have done since the start of the tournament, Cibao FC demonstrated class and quality in making light work of Ouanaminthe at Estadio Cibao FC.
After bossing possession from the onset, Cibao eventually broke the deadlock courtesy of Eddipo Rodriguez, who fired home in the 33rd from Jean Lopez’s service.
Before Ouanaminthe could catch their breaths, they were hit again, as Carlos Heredia doubled Cibao’s lead with a tidy finish in the 37th after dispossessing a defender.
Cibao picked up where they left off on the resumption and pushed the game beyond Ouanaminthe’s reach when Rivaldo Correa drove home a right-footer from the top of the 18-yard box to make it 3-0.
Moca's Guillermo de Pena celebrates the winning goal against Grenades FC.
Ouanaminthe pulled one back in the 55th through Dave Altidor Jr, who fired home from close range.
However, that strike proved to be a mere consolation as Luis Quezada tucked away a calm left-footed effort to complete Cibao’s win.
Meanwhile, Moca produced a come-from-behind performance to top Grenades at Estadio Moca 85.
After playing out a goalless first half, Kamol Griffith latched on to a cross from Malcolm Stewart to put Grenades ahead in the 50th minute.
But the lead was short-lived as Gustavo Ascona expertly headed home from Clifford Thomas’ weighted cross in the 53rd to pull Moca FC level.
Guillermo de Pena completed Moca FC’s comeback when he finished off a well-worked training ground-style build up from a set play in the 61st minute.
Moca went down to 10 players when Carlos Russell picked up a second yellow in the 76th minute, and the numerical disadvantage allowed Grenades FC to attempt a rally in the latter stages of the contest.
However, Moca’s captain and goalkeeper Miguel Baez pulled off a stunning save to deny Keanu Barrett’s effort from a distance to ensure his team came away with all three points.
Cibao FC will face the Group A runner-up, while Moca FC await the Group A winner. Those spots are to be decided between currently leaders Jamaica’s Cavaliers (six points), Haiti’s Real Hope (five points) and another Jamaican outfit Mount Pleasant FA (four points).
Cavalier are set to tackle out-of-contention Arnett Gardens on Thursday, at the same time that Mount Pleasant and Real Hope will lock horns in what should be mouth-watering clash.
'Man Utd are going to make a success of this season', Ten Hag insists
Erik ten Hag insists Manchester United are "going to make a success of the season", despite their difficult start to the 2024-25 campaign.
United are 12th in the Premier League, having collected just seven points; their joint-fewest after the first six games in a single season (matching their total from 2013-14 and 2020-21).
Sunday's 3-0 defeat by Tottenham at Old Trafford provided their latest setback, while increasing the pressure on Ten Hag, whose side face Porto in the Europa League on Thursday before returning to Premier League action against Aston Villa three days later.
Against Spurs, United conceded in the first three minutes of both halves in a single Premier League game for only the second time, while allowing their third-highest xG (4.59) by an opponent since records began in 2009.
Ange Postecoglou's side also created nine big chances, with a team only registering more in five previous games in Premier League history.
The Red Devils also have an xG against of 11.04, a tally only lower than Brentford and the three promoted sides, but Ten Hag is confident the tide will turn.
"We are going to make a success of the season," he told Sky Sports.
"Nothing is easy, but this is nothing for me to panic about. We can sort [the problems] out, this team can sort this out."
The Dutchman also insists he is concerned by the latest speculation surrounding his future at Old Trafford, where he has ended both his previous campaigns with silverware.
"I'm not thinking about it, I'm not anxious," he added. "We created a togetherness in the summer with the ownership and the leadership.
"We made this agreement, and we were all behind it. We know the strategy [is to bring in] young players in a transition period.
"They also know in May in all my last six seasons, there were always trophies, and that is what we are aiming for."
Szczesny reverses retirement to join Barcelona
Barcelona have signed Wojciech Szczesny as a free agent, with the goalkeeper reversing his decision to retire after the Blaugrana lost Marc-Andre ter Stegen to a long-term injury.
Germany international Ter Stegen underwent surgery after suffering a rupture of the patella tendon in his right knee last weekend and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Inaki Pena was initially expected to cover for Ter Stegen, but Barca have now reinforced their squad with the signing of former Arsenal man Szczesny.
Szczesny had announced his retirement from football last month after terminating his contract with Juventus, where he had been a regular after replacing Italy great Gianluigi Buffon between the sticks.
Szczesny won Serie A and the Coppa Italia three times each with Juve, making more than 250 appearances for the club, but he then lost his place to close-season recruit Michele Di Gregorio.
Barcelona are top of LaLiga with 21 points from eight games and Hansi Flick's side next visit Alaves on Sunday, looking to bounce back from last week's defeat at Osasuna.
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