Three goals in seven minutes put Arsenal in cruise control against Lille

Champions League Arsenal 3 - 0 Lille Jurrien Timber, Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka all scored in seven scintillating second-half minutes to fire Arsenal to a comfortable Champions League win against Lille at the Emirates Stadium. Timber opened the scoring for the home side shortly after the hour mark before Eze doubled their advantage just three minutes later. Substitute Saka then added a third in the 71st minute as Mikel Arteta's side cantered to a second win from two matches in Europe, and their ninth in 10 across all competitions so far this season. The Gunners' victory here was remarkably their 14th in a row in the group stage of the Champions League as they bid to go one step further than last season and secure their maiden title on Europe's grandest stage. It is now almost two years since the Gunners last dropped points in the league phase – a 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan in November 2024. For the first hour of the contest under the lights, it looked as though Arsenal's winning streak was in danger, with the French side frustrating their English counterparts. Bruno Guimaraes should have celebrated his second goal in as many games, but side-footed wide after neat build-up play between Noni Madueke and Timber midway through the first half. Arsenal's Eberechi Eze celebrates scoring their side's second goal Picture date: Tuesday October 13, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: John Walton/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: PICTURE DESK USE ONLY, NO SALES. © John Walton/PA Wire Mikel Merino then headed Timber's cross straight at Berke Ozer in the Lille goal .The visitors thought they had taken the lead through Ayase Ueda in the 22nd minute before the offside flag came to the home side's rescue. Eze, handed a rare start, drew a save from Ozer as the hosts pushed for a breakthrough, while Guimaraes' deflected shot was scrambled away by Ozer on the stroke of half-time. Arsenal continued to push and probe after the interval, but the hour mark arrived without Lille's goal coming under threat. Guimaraes wanted a penalty when he went down in the area after a collision with Alexsandro, but referee Felix Zwayer waved away his appeals and VAR did not intervene. It was beginning to feel as though it could be one of those nights for the Gunners before Arteta's men – as they so often do these days – found a way. Madueke, in what would prove his final contribution, played in Timber and the full-back's first touch was exquisite, allowing him to get away from Lille captain Benjamin Andre before chipping the on-rushing Ozer. Reinforcements then arrived from the bench, with Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz all introduced, and the former was immediately involved in Arsenal's second. Guimaraes found Saka in the right-hand channel and the substitute's cross was cooly finished by Eze. Suddenly, Lille were on the ropes and Saka delivered the knockout blow in the 71st minute when he combined with fellow substitute Havertz to score his fourth goal of the season. Lille's Olivier Giroud embraces Arsenal's David Raya after the match © Reuters Olivier Giroud, now 40, made his Emirates comeback in the final dozen minutes, while Max Dowman, 24 years the Frenchman's junior, was also handed a late cameo. Arsenal will face a sterner examination of their European credentials when they travel to Germany to face Bayern Munich a week on Wednesday. But for now, it is six points from six, without conceding, following an encouraging evening's work, with Nottingham Forest to follow this weekend.