Arsenal opened up a six-point lead after condemning Rapid Vienna to a 4-1 defeat inside a vibrant Emirates Stadium that welcomed about 2000 fans on Thursday night.
Alexandre Lacazete opened the scoring inside 10 minutes and Pablo Mari who made his first start after a lengthy layoff from injury added a second from a corner. Eddie Nketiah delighted the Arsenal fans before halftime as Mikel Arteta’s side led 3-0 at the interval.
Koya Kitagawa pulled one back for the visitors just after the restart but the mood at the Emirates Stadium was brought back to life as substitute Emile Smith-Rowe scored shortly after being introduced to send the fans home happy.
Arsenal kept up their 100 percent record in this season’s Europa League with the win as they look forward to the final group stage match.
Stats and facts from the match (Backed by Opta)
- Arsenal have won each of their first five matches to a season in major European competition (excluding qualifiers) for only the second time, having last done so in the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League, reaching the final that season.
- Rapid Wien have lost four of their five away games against English sides in Europe (W1), shipping a total of 13 goals in those fixtures.
- Arsenal have scored 3+ goals in four consecutive European games for the first time since March 2000, on their way to the UEFA Cup final that season.
- Pablo Marí scored his first Arsenal goal with his first ever shot on target for the Gunners and just his second attempt overall (4th appearance in all competitions).
- All 16 of Eddie Nketiah’s goals in his senior club career have been scored from inside the box (11 for Arsenal, 5 for Leeds).
The group’s other game saw second-placed Molde beat pointless Dundalk 3-1, making for a thrilling encounter when the Norwegians and the Austrians face off next week in what would be the decider for the second spot.
Europa League - Group B
| # | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 3 | +13 | 15 |
| 2 | Molde | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 9 |
| 3 | Rapid Wien | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 6 |
| 4 | Dundalk | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 15 | -9 | 0 |
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