Arsenal 3 Bodo/Glimt 0: Nketiah, Holding and Vieira net as Gunners’ stand-ins give Arteta headache before Liverpool game
EDDIE NKETIAH came in from the cold to see off the team from the Arctic Circle.
The frustrated Arsenal striker has spent most of his Emirates career warming the subs’ bench, but never misses an opportunity to remind Mikel Arteta of his finishing ability.
And he was at it again tonight to set his team on their way to a comfortable Europa League victory against the Norwegian Champions.
Nketiah’s 23rd minute strike means he has now scored 12 goals in his last 15 starts for the Gunners.
Yet it’s a fair bet that he will still be back among the substitutes when Liverpool come visiting in the League on Sunday.
At least he is giving Arteta plenty of food for thought after his lightning reactions opened the floodgates on Arsenal’s ninth win in ten games this season.
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It looked for all the world as though the hard-pressed visitors were going to escape unpunished when Kieran Tierney’s thunderbolt came back off the far post.
But in the blink of an eye Fast Eddie had pounced on the loose ball to convert from close range.
Three minutes later the points were as good as in the bag when Rob Holding buried an unstoppable header from Fabio Vieira’s cross.
And Vieira put the game beyond doubt with his second goal since his £34million move from Porto, cashing in on Gabriel Jesus’ mazy run round the back to net in the dying minutes.
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It means Arsenal are now in total control of their Europa League group despite having played a game less than both Bodo and Zurich.
And victory in the return game in Norway next week will leave them as good as qualified for the knock-out stages with three matches still to play.
The last time the Emirates hosted a full house for a European match, Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis infected the Arsenal executives with Covid and football was plunged into quarantine.
So it was only natural that both sets of supporters were so keen to sample the atmosphere of Thursday night football.
Not that the visitors were expecting quite so much interest that their team bus got stuck in pre-match traffic and their players were forced to make their way to the stadium by foot.
The entire population of Bodo could fit comfortably inside the Emirates and it seemed like most of them were in North London on Thursday.
And not only were the travelling Norwegians the loudest visitors for quite some time, they were also the jolliest.
They never stopped singing even when their team was being penned back by the sheer intensity of Arsenal’s attacks.
And after last season’s incredible 6-1 win against Jose Mourinho’s Roma in the Conference League, they clearly believed that absolutely anything was possible.
Coach Kjetil Knutsen had promised that they wouldn’t make the same mistake as Zurich and Spurs had by simply trying to defend against Arteta’s rampant young side.
But they had little choice but to pull everyone back into their own half in a desperate attempt to stem the flow of shots raining down on their goal.
Vieira clipped the bar with a shot on the turn, Granit Xhaka’s thunderous free-kick brought a fingertip save from keeper Nikita Kaikin and Marquinhos headed a decent chance wide.
Yet it still wasn’t enough for Arteta, who sent on Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Ben White to ensure the intensity didn’t drop in the final half an hour.
It almost felt like an act of cruelty from the demanding Arsenal boss.
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But he is leaving absolutely nothing to chance this season and no-one can argue with the results.
Not even Nketiah as he prepares to return to his familiar position in the dug-out.
