Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 2–1 at the Fortuna Arena on Champions League Matchday 4 (Wed 4 Nov 2026) — a first half they owned, a second half they survived. It was a game of two halves in the truest sense: total control, then a siege, and a 2–0 lead that looked unshakeable at the break was being defended with everything Arsenal had by the end. The two sides had come into it on very different runs — Arsenal unbeaten in a European away game since May 2025, Slavia looking to avoid equalling the longest winless run in European Cup history.
The opener took nine minutes. Oskar Kubiak misjudged a high ball, Viktor Gyökeres held it up and hooked a pass in behind for Noni Madueke, who sped into the box, held off Kubiak's challenge and slid the ball past Nazar Domchak — the finish went through the goalkeeper's legs, timed at eight minutes and 29 seconds, Arsenal's fastest goal of this Champions League season. It was also Madueke's first goal in the competition in 11 games, since a brace against Club Brugge last season.
Mikel Merino was at the centre of the push for a second — a long-range shot tipped over, a header just over, and on 25 minutes a scuffed effort straight at Domchak after Ben White's cutback. The second arrived on 38 minutes anyway: a Merino tackle won possession in Slavia's final third, Declan Rice's neat pass found Gyökeres, and the Swede played a one-two with Merino on the edge of the box before curling a finish in off the post from a tight angle. Gabriel glanced a header off target from Madueke's deflected cross on the stroke of half-time, and Arsenal went in 2–0 up.
It was a complete night's work from Gyökeres — a goal and an assist in the same game, and Flashscore's man of the match at 8.4. The Swede has now been involved in 16 goals in 25 Champions League appearances across his time with Sporting and Arsenal, and on this evidence the Gunners' European campaign runs through him.
Slavia, who had mustered one shot before the break, came out transformed. David Raya pushed away Kubiak's effort from distance inside the first minute of the half, Emmanuel Ayaosi's deflected strike sailed wide, Gabriel headed Mojmír Chytil's effort off his own goal line, and Raya clawed a Kubiak header off the line with the post's help. Arsenal's own openings dried up — Madueke's 71st-minute shot, covered by Domchak, was the best of them. The numbers tell the pressure: 17 second-half shots, the joint-most any side has managed in a single half against Mikel Arteta's Arsenal in this competition.
The reward came too late to change the result, but it was no more than Slavia's second half deserved. In the 90th minute David Jurásek's low centre across the box found Wiktor Nowak unmarked, and he tapped home from close range for 1–2. Five minutes of stoppage time followed — Stepan Chaloupek headed over and Mikulas Konecny's tame effort trickled into Raya's hands before Arsenal were finally clear.
The win makes it 10 Champions League away games unbeaten for Arsenal (W7, D3) — ten games unbeaten away in the competition for the first time in the club's history — and takes them to 10 points from four matches, third in the league-phase table and still unbeaten in this season's competition. It is also 32 straight Champions League games without defeat after scoring first. For Slavia, the wait goes on: 23 Champions League games without a win (D8, L15), equalling the longest winless run in European Cup history.
Every goal from the Fortuna Arena lives on the match's Game Center page.
