Arsenal trash Slavia Praha with 'delantero' Merino scoring goal nr.18 for 2025 in 3-0 rout

By Alessandro Schiavone at Fortuna Arena, Prague

Champions League Matchday 4

Slavia Praha 0-3 Arsenal

Goals: Saka 32' (penalty), Merino 46', Merino 68'

There are 18 bridges in the city of Prague.

But Slavia always knew they would be in for one hell of a ride to bridge the gap with Premier League big hitters Arsenal. Because, whether it's on the pitch or in the bank, the chasm between the two sides is evident. And how it showed. Mikel Arteta, who handed Max Dowman his Champions League debut at 15 years and 308 days making him the youngest ever in the competition, saw his side ease to a 3-0 win in the Czech capital.

A Bukayo Saka penalty and Mikel Merino's double after the restart were enough to see off the spirited hosts who had not lost a single game on their patch prior to tonight.

That's now four wins in four Champions League outings for the Premier League's pace setters and ten in a row in all competitions. Arsenal's run is impressively adorned by eight consecutive clean sheets. Goalkeeper David Raya snoozed his way through the encounter having barely had anything to do. And a late penalty for Slavia which would have enabled him to earn his corn if saved was to his joy [or rather dismay?] was scrapped after a VAR review.

Like so often in the Champions League, the unfancied outsiders playing hosts raced out of the traps in the early stages in a bid to lay down a marker. Unsurprisingly, Slavia attacked and pressed like men possessed. But it was never gonna last against one of Europe's in-form sides.

Jindřich Trpišovsky's side arrowed one wide in the early stages before having no choice but to retreat as Arsenal took charge.

And after surviving a bit of pressure early on, the visitors became unrelenting.

Goalkeeper Markovic saved efforts from Rice (1) and Saka (3). But in the 32nd minute, Arsenal's left-winger drove home the penalty that Provod gave away after Merino's header struck his arm in an unnatural position. The Spaniard, back leading the line up-front following Viktor Gyökeres' injury, made it 2-0 seconds into the second period when he tucked away Trossard's delivery on the volley. It was the goal that killed the Czech side's legs as the game went flat. The Basque then completed his double with a flicked backwards header to beat Markovic off his line. It was his 18th strike of 2025. For a trained midfielder, no malo hermano.