Arsenal 2-0 Olympiakos: Martinelli & Saka's goals secure victory for Gunners

Arsenal made it two wins out of two in the Champions League as Bukayo Saka’s stoppage-time goal sealed a 2-0 victory over Olympiakos at the Emirates Stadium.

Match Report

Martinelli came off the bench to score one and create the other in the Gunners' opening win by the same scoreline at Athletic Bilbao, and he was the hero again on Wednesday before Bukayo Saka's late second clinched victory.

The Brazil winger was named in the starting XI this time and wasted little time in making an impact, netting the opener in scrappy fashion after 12 minutes.

Martinelli had already passed up a very presentable chance in the second minute when he miscued a header, but he was on hand to tap in when Viktor Gyokeres' shot squirmed under the goalkeeper but hit the foot of the left-hand post.

Mikel Arteta would have hoped that strike might set in motion a comfortable evening at Emirates Stadium, yet this proved anything but, and David Raya soon made a sublime stop from Daniel Podence as his team-mates made and missed further opportunities in attack.

A similarly miraculous Konstantinos Tzolakis save denied Martin Odegaard eight minutes from time, but the Arsenal captain then turned provider for Saka, whose low shot crept past the Olympiacos keeper.

Data debrief: Martinelli making his mark

It was a largely dominant performance from the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium, producing 2.73 expected goals (xG) from 16 shots to Olympiacos' 0.51 from 10 attempts.

Martinelli has responded exactly as Arteta would have hoped, with his contributions in Bilbao followed by a precious equaliser against Manchester City. It means no other Arsenal player now has more goal contributions than his four this season (three goals, one assist).

This is the first time Martinelli has scored in consecutive Champions League matches, but he and Arteta will hope there is more to come. Martinelli has scored exactly twice in each of his three Champions League campaigns.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

3' Martinelli sends his header narrowly wide of the left post

8' Ortega makes a reckless foul in order to win the ball from Martinelli

13' GOAL! Martinelli easily scores from a rebound! Arsenal 1-0 Olympiakos

21' Podence shoots early towards the roof of the net but Raya pulls off a great save

31' Gyökeres sends a dangerous shot in on goal, but the defender blocked the effort

32' Trossard unleashes a strike, but the shot is blocked by the defender

42' Gyökeres latches on to a pass and shoots towards goal but it goes well wide

54' Trossard  picks up a pass inside the box but he sends his shot wide

61' The tackle by Zubimendi was quite harsh and he is booked yellow

66' The goal by Olympiacos Piraeus is disallowed due to offside

82' Odegaard's effort in the box is denied by a goal-line clearance

92' GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Olympiakos (Bukayo Saka)

Line-ups

Arsenal XI: Trossard, David Raya, Ødegaard, Merino, Viktor Gyökeres, Gabriel, Ben White, Martín Zubimendi, Martinelli, Saliba, Lewis-Skelly

Subs: Christian Nørgaard, Kepa, Rice, Eberechi Eze, Saka, Timber, Calafiori, Cristhian Mosquera, Tommy Setford, Nwaneri, Max Dowman

Olympiakos XI: D.García, Gelson Martins, Podence, Chiquinho, Retsos, Francisco Ortega, A. El Kaabi, Costinha, Pirola, Tzolakis, Santiago Hezze

Subs: Alexandros Paschalakis, M. Taremi, Strefezza, Giulian Biancone, Diogo Nascimento, Bruno Onyemaechi, Alexios Kalogeropoulos, Christos Mouzakitis, Georgios Kouraklis, Stavros Pnevmonidis, Lorenzo Scipioni