Arsenal hold on to beat Slavia Prague in Champions League

Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 2-1 in the Czech capital to move into third place in the Champions League table, despite a late scare after the hosts scored in the 90th minute.

Noni Madueke opened the scoring after nine minutes, and Viktor Gyokeres doubled Arsenal’s lead before half-time. Wiktor Nowak pulled one back for Slavia, but Arsenal held on through five nervous minutes of stoppage time.

Mikel Arteta described the match as one of two halves, praising Arsenal’s football before the break but criticising their performance afterwards. “I’m very happy with the result,” he said. “It’s always very tough to win away from home in the Champions League. We played four games in the competition - three away from home already - so it’s been a very difficult task.”

“They did that right from the beginning [of the second half]. We dropped our standards, we did some basic things really poorly,” Arteta said. “When you start to do that, you give them hope.”

The win was Arsenal’s 10th away game unbeaten in the Champions League, a first in the club’s history, and leaves them on 10 points from four matches. Arsenal had not lost a European away game since May 2025, while Slavia were trying to avoid matching their long winless run of 23 games in the competition.

Arsenal have played 11 of their 16 matches this season away from home, including three of their four Champions League games, but sit top of the Premier League with 24 points from nine matches. Arteta said there was still room for improvement: “It’s really tough away from home, it’s so hard to win, and we are there,” he said. “So we’re happy in certain aspects, but there’s still a lot to improve.”

Arsenal took control early. Oskar Kubiak misjudged a high ball, and Gyokeres held it up and played Madueke through. The winger held off Kubiak’s challenge and slid the ball past Nazar Domchak.

The second goal came in the 38th minute. A Mikel Merino tackle in Slavia’s final third led to a quick pass from Declan Rice, and Gyokeres curled a finish into the net despite a tight angle.

Slavia came out stronger after the break. David Raya made his first save when Kubiak shot from 20 yards, and Madueke’s effort at Domchak on 71 minutes was the best chance Arsenal created in the second half.

With seven minutes to go, Raya made an excellent save from Kubiak after a cross from the right. In the final minute of regular time, David Jurasek’s low cross allowed Nowak to finish past Raya, but Arsenal held on.

Arsenal host Hull City at Emirates Stadium on Saturday before the international break. They return to Premier League action with a trip to Newcastle United on Saturday, November 21.