Eindhoven has been packed with carnival-goers in recent days but on Tuesday it was Arsenal enjoying their own party in the city, getting over their goalscoring crisis and setting a Champions League record in the process.
Mikel Arteta’s side became the first team in Champions League history to score seven goals away from home in the knockout stages of the competition as they romped to a 7-1 win over PSV Eindhoven.
It was the most goals the Gunners have scored in a single game since beating Newcastle 7-3 in the Premier League 13 years ago.
The Arsenal manager said the win had given his players “joy and confidence and belief”, but was not getting carried away when questions were put to him about the records that his team had broken.
“For sure, it’s something that hasn’t been done, so great to be part of that,” Arteta said. “But as a team we want to achieve many other things that are far more important than that.
“The happiest thing is we are in a very strong position to go to the next round, which is where we want to be.
“But there’s still a job to do in London in a week’s time.”
After failing to score in their past two games, a 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest and 1-0 defeat by West Ham, Arteta may not have seen a victory like this coming.
“This will give them great confidence for the rest of the season. Right from the start Arsenal had control of the game,” said Chris Sutton on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Arsenal were ruthless with their finishing, some of the combination play in the final third was sensational.
“Martin Odegaard looked back to his best. To a man they were really strong and that centre-back pairing [Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba] is phenomenal.
“Arsenal will take some stopping in this competition.”
England and Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was one of the players singled out for his performance during the game and said that the Gunners have got the reward for their hard work in recent weeks.
Rice, who had a goal ruled out for offside, said Arsenal were “fluid” and possessed the “enthusiasm, drive and hunger” that the knockout stages demand.
“But we’ve been playing like this all season,” he added. “We feel we’ve been playing well as a team. Sometimes we score five, sometimes two, sometimes we don’t score but [on Tuesday] we did well. It all clicked.”
Arsenal’s lack of a recognised striker has been well documented, with Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz both injured. But six different players contributed to the rout on Tuesday – Odegaard scored twice, along with goals for Jurrien Timber, Mikel Merino, Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori.
The emphatic win means that Arsenal can start planning for a trip to Madrid, as they are set to take on the winner of the tie between Real and Atletico, which finished 2-1 to Carlo Ancelotti’s side. Next week’s second leg takes place at Atletico.
