Noni Madueke scored twice as Arsenal beat Club Brugge to maintain their 100% record in the Champions League and all but secure their place in the knockout phase.
Mikel Arteta made five changes to the side that lost to Aston Villa on Saturday, and it was one of those players, Noni Madueke, who opened the scoring with an excellent strike.
The England winger shrugged off one defender before smashing a shot from 20 yards, which went in off the crossbar.
Club Brugge did threaten Arsenal’s much-changed backline just before the break, but David Raya made smart saves from Christos Tzolis and Aleksandar Stankovic to keep the Gunners in the lead.
Madueke got his second goal of the evening just two minutes into the second half when he nodded in Martin Zubimendi’s excellent cross, and Gabriel Martinelli ensured it would be a comfortable end to the game when he curled in a superb strike in the 56th minute for Arsenal’s third.
There were also other positives for the Gunners as Gabriel Jesus made his first appearance for 342 days, after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, and 16-year-old Marli Salmon was brought on for his first-team debut.
And Jesus almost made it the perfect comeback but his strike from the edge of the area late on hit the bar.
The win leaves Arsenal on 18 points, two more than was required for a top-eight finish last season, meaning they are likely to avoid the play-offs in February and can prepare for the last 16.
Arsenal analysis: Rotation gets job done
Supporters have been calling for Arteta to rotate his squad because of the amount of injuries the Gunners have and volume of games, and against Club Brugge he listened – making five changes from the side that lost to Aston Villa at the weekend.
Christian Norgaard lined up at centre-back with Piero Hincapie – the seventh different centre-back partnership Arteta has had to use this campaign.
At times the performance lacked quality and the game drifted, but Arsenal are in such a dominant position in the league table it did not matter too much and they got through the difficult moments they had just before half-time.
Arsenal took control of the game in the second half with the goals from Madueke and Martinelli, and delivered a professional performance to continue their excellent form in the Champions League.
The dominance they showed in the second half allowed them to bring on Gabriel Jesus for his first minutes since January, and the forward impressed in his half an hour on the pitch.
He showed a lot more than fellow forward Viktor Gyokeres who had a difficult night, and it will be intriguing to see how Arteta uses the pair in the busy Christmas schedule.
The Arsenal squad has been stretched over the past few weeks and this match, along with Wolves, should allow Arteta to share the minutes as his side navigate matches they are expected to win.
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