Arsenal thrashed Atletico Madrid 4-0 thanks to a devastating second-half broadside at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to secure a third successive Champions League victory.

What had been a compelling contest with little between the sides became an Arsenal rout with goals by Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and a brace from Viktor Gyokeres leaving Diego Simeone’s side shell-shocked.

Shortly after Julian Alvarez hit the crossbar for the visitors, Arsenal defender Gabriel broke the deadlock by heading in a Declan Rice free kick in the 57th minute.

Martinelli finished off a sweeping move seven minutes later and Gyokeres prodded in his first goal of the night via a deflection as Arsenal ran riot, the Swede ending a nine-game scoring drought for club and country.

Gyokeres bundled in his second as Atletico were again unable to deal with a set piece.

Victory extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions and put them on nine points in the group phase, after three wins without conceding a goal, well on the way to qualifying for the knockout stages.

Atletico, on three points, will have to dust themselves down after their six-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to a juddering halt.

“It was a tough match. After the goal they opened up a bit and it was a little easier for us to find the spaces. Very happy with the result,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said.

“At this level in the Champions League you really need to step up and we certainly did that in every phase of the play.”

Simeone, who also tasted defeat in Liverpool last month, said his side had been punished for individual errors.

“It’s not down to bad luck, it’s down to mistakes,” the Argentine told reporters. “They made the most of our mistakes and all their big chances turned into goals.”

BRIMMING WITH CONFIDENCE

Brimming with confidence after climbing to the top of the Premier League, Arsenal began strongly and almost took the lead when Eberechi Eze’s shot deflected off David Hancko and hit the crossbar with Rice bouncing the rebound over the bar.

Myles Lewis-Skelly dragged a shot wide and Bukayo Saka was denied by a block from Atletico keeper Jan Oblak.

The visitors weathered the storm, though, and were almost gifted a goal when Arsenal keeper David Raya was caught in possession well out of his area and Alvarez had the goal at his mercy but placed his shot agonisingly wide from an angle.

When Alvarez curled a superb effort against Arsenal’s crossbar soon after the restart the outcome was very much in the balance but Atletico then caved in.

Arsenal’s set-piece coach Nicolas Jover would have been purring at the goal that opened the floodgates.

The threat of the Rice-Gabriel combination is hardly a secret but Atletico’s defence seemed transfixed as Rice’s curling free kick delivery was met by the Brazilian who had ghosted clear to glance a header past Oblak.

With Atletico stunned, Arsenal went for the kill and Lewis-Skelly slid in Martinelli to side-foot past Oblak, meaning he has scored in every Champions League game this season.

Gyokeres then got in on the act with two goals that were hardly masterpieces — but will have done him the power of good after a barren spell since his big-money move from Sporting.

“We value a lot of things that he does for the team and it was the biggest smile on his face today,” Arteta said.

“Hopefully this is the start of some beautiful sequences.”

-Reuters

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The Champions League has barely started and already African fans have something to be proud of.

Two of the continent’s biggest names, Victor Osimhen from Nigeria and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Gabon, have become the first African players this season to be named Man of the Match.

For Osimhen, it was a night to remember in Istanbul. Galatasaray were up against Liverpool, a team with a European pedigree and needed someone to step up. Osimhen did just that.

 His goal gave Galatasaray a 1-0 win but it was more than just the goal. His energy and how he kept Liverpool’s defenders on their toes all night made him the best player on the pitch.

So his winning of the UEFA Man of the Match award. Galatasaray fans had proof they have a striker who can change games at the highest level.

Meanwhile, on the same night in Marseille, Aubameyang was showing why he has been Africa’s most reliable goal scorer for over a decade.

At 36, some wondered if he still had it on nights like this. His answer was a thunderous “YES.”

Marseille tore Ajax apart in a 4–0 demolition that saw Aubameyang seal his stature as the orchestrator and heartbeat of the French club’s attack.

His movement, his composure and his leadership stood out. So much so that he too was rightfully awarded the Man of the Match.

The fact that these two happened on the same night made it even more special for African football fans.

Osimhen represents the new generation: quick, hungry and with still a few years ahead to make history.

Aubameyang is the veteran still out there to prove – even though he really has nothing to prove anymore – that experience and class don’t fade easily.

Together, they gave African football fans a double reason to smile.

For Nigeria and Gabon, these awards are more than individual trophies. They are ultimately a reminder of how much African players contribute to the Champions League season in, season out.

And the tournament is still in its early stages. So there’s every chance more players from the continent will follow in their footsteps before the Budapest finale in 2026. Only good omens for the 2025 AFCON that starts in a few months.

-Morocco World News

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In his glory days, Jose Mourinho celebrated dramatic goals from his teams by sprinting down the touchline, sometimes sliding on his knees for extra euphoric effect.

On Tuesday, back at his former club Chelsea as the new coach of Benfica, Mourinho’s most eye-catching intervention was down the touchline again, but this time his run was to urge his team’s fans to stop hurling objects onto the pitch.

Benfica under Mourinho, in his fourth game in charge, were defeated 1-0 by an under-strength Chelsea side in the Champions League after a fist-half Richard Rios own goal.

The self-declared “Special One” was lauded by the home fans with a few choruses of “Jose Mou-rin-ho” in recognition of his successes – three Premier League titles and four other trophies – which no other Chelsea manager has come close to matching.

Mourinho, 62, acknowledged the chants with a gentle wave, got a cheer when he ventured onto the pitch to clear a spare ball and quickly vanished down the tunnel at the final whistle after shaking the hand of Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca.

It was all a far cry from the fervour of 20 years ago when Mourinho – having led Porto to an unlikely Champions League triumph – turned Chelsea into English champions for the first time in 50 years in 2005 and won the title again a year later.

After a collapse of form, Mourinho departed in 2007 but he won the Champions League again, this time with Inter Milan in 2010, knocking out the Londoners on the way to the final.

He went on to manage Real Madrid before returning to Chelsea where he claimed a third English title and then had spells at Manchester United, London side Tottenham Hotspur – an unforgivable move for many Chelsea fans at the time – and Roma.

As the big offers dried up, Mourinho went on to coach Fenerbahce in Turkey where he lasted little more than a year before his return to Portuguese football with Benfica.

Asked after Tuesday’s defeat by Chelsea if he still had the drive of the early days of his career, Mourinho insisted he felt more motivated.

“If I am in a job it’s because I like to put myself on the line every day,” he told reporters. “I am desperate to win the next match.”

Mourinho said he thought Benfica had deserved more from the game. “We started well, we controlled well. I don’t know if I can say big chances but we had chances for sure.”

Chelsea’s Maresca said he was relieved to secure a win – albeit a scrappy one – after two consecutive defeats in the Premier League and a 3-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the his side’s Champions League opener.

“Sometimes you need to learn to win in another way,” he said of Chelsea’s improved defensive performance. “At least we learned how to win a game with a red card.”

Striker Joao Pedro was dismissed for a second yellow card after coming on as a substitute, the third time in four matches that Chelsea have finished with 10 men

-Reuters

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