Belgian media reacts to Arsenal win vs Club Brugge: ‘Moment of rarely-seen beauty’
Arsenal romped to a routine 3-0 win against Club Brugge in the Champions League as Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli each netted brilliant strikes.
Arsenal were aiming to continue their 100% win record in the Champions League on Wednesday (10 December), and Madueke‘s stunning 25th minute strike sent them on their way to another three points.
The England star doubled the Gunners’ lead just minutes into the second-half as he headed the ball into an empty net from Martin Zubimendi’s cross.
Martinelli added another soon after with a fine strike of his own after cutting in from the left-wing, and Arsenal held on to beat Brugge 3-0 despite some late pressure from the hosts.
They remain top of the Champions League table and are in a great position to advance directly to the round of 16, with Belgian media fawning over the Gunners’ strong performance in Bruges.
Belgian media praise Madueke but insist that Brugge could have punished Arsenal with better finishing
Madueke was the star against Brugge as his brace saw him awarded UEFA’s Player of the Match, with club legend Martin Keown blown away by his “special” opener on TNT Sports commentary.
He has had to bide his time to be a real star under Mikel Arteta due to injuries, but his performance did not go unnoticed among the Belgian media following the game.
HLN (11 December) compared Madueke’s brilliant showing to how some of the world’s finest players, such as Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, have played against Brugge in the past, with his goal praised as something “of a rarely seen beauty.”
The Gunners were applauded as “the best team in Europe at the moment” by Nieuwsbald (10 December), but they also admitted that Brugge had “grabbed Arsenal by the throat” just before half-time and the difference in clinical finishing was what truly separated the two sides.
A similar sentiment was shared by HLN, who stated that there was “the feeling that there might be something in it” for the hosts at 0-0, but Arsenal would “never really panic” before scoring.
Viktor Gyokeres could be dropped by Arteta after poor Brugge showing
It was a routine win for Arsenal in the end, despite Brugge creating numerous chances and coming close to scoring, but Gyokeres struggled despite their wingers’ impressive performances.
The 27-year-old only touched the ball 12 times in the 62 minutes he played, while he missed a big chance, was dispossessed twice and lost four of the six duels he attempted.
He was replaced by Gabriel Jesus just after the hour mark, who took 20 touches in his half-hour on the pitch, while he hit the crossbar with a well-worked chance in the 78th minute, created a chance, drew a foul and won both of the duels he was involved in.
Arsenal fans slammed Gyokeres for his poor Brugge showing, and with Jesus now back fit and ready to make an impact, the Swede may well face some time out of the starting eleven during a busy winter schedule.