Three hits for Arsenal's UCL perfection: Noni & Gabi conquer Bruges

In Martin McDonagh's cult classic movie In Bruges, the two hitmen - portrayed by the outstanding duo of Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell -escape from London to the Belgian title city, trying to hide after messing up a job.

Last night, Mikel Arteta took his Arsenal crew from London to Bruges, not to hide, but to "kill" the rivals, Club Brugge, and take three points home. And the Londoners did it flawlessly thanks to two of their "hitmen" - Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli.

The former bagged a brace, finding the net in the 25th (with a fantastic screamer) and 47th minutes, while the latter sealed the deal with another banger eleven minutes into the second half, setting the final score - 3-0.

The triumph in Belgium was Arsenal's sixth in the current UCL campaign in as many matches, as the Gunners maintained a perfect score and remained at the top of the table.

Given the chances created, it was surprising that the visitors didn't score more than one goal in the first half. To be fair, they needed some time to adapt to the numerous changes Mikel Arteta made - or, rather, was forced to make.

Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ben White were in the XI as were Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli, while the midfielder Christian Norgaard played a centre-back as Piero Hincapie's pair.

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Martin Odegaard and Viktor Gyokeres made a few mild attempts, but once the Gunners took control, they began to crush their rivals. In the 21st minute, Hincapie hit the post, but four minutes later, the Belgians were doomed.

Noni Madueke started a solo run from the halfway line and then unleashed a genuine missile from about 20 metres distance, finding the top-left corner of Club Brugge's goal perfectly.

Four minutes after the opener, the Ecuadorian defender had another great chance following a corner kick, but the home crew's keeper, Dani van den Heuvel, stopped his header.

Club Brugge woke up in the final minutes before the break, when they threatened several times over Carlos Forbs, Aleksandar Stankovic, and Christos Tzolis, but failed to level and secure a positive result at halftime.

However, since the Belgian side finished the first half strong and with a couple of decent opportunities, nobody expected Arsenal would double their lead only 80 seconds after the break! Martin Zubimendi got past his man on the left flank and crossed the ball to the far post, where Madueke just nodded the ball into the empty net, scoring one of the easiest goals in his career and completing a brace.

As if that goal completely disheartened Ivan Leko's crew, ten minutes after the second, the Gunners bagged their third goal - another screamer, this time courtesy of Gabriel Martinelli, who became the first Arsenal player to find the net in five consecutive Champions League he played.

Following the third goal, the visitors hit the break a little bit, and Club Brugge were keen on exploiting it and scoring at least a consolation goal, but David Raya made some terrific stops, depriving them of what they deserved.

On the other hand, Arteta used the comfortable lead to give some rest to key players, while a particularly striking moment was Gabriel Jesus' return to the pitch after a 332-day absence due to an ACL tear, as he came off the bench in the 62nd minute, replacing Gyokeres. Twelve minute later, the Brazilian could have marked his comeback with a goal, but the crossbar denied him.

Thanks to this triumph, Arsenal maintained the perfect 6-for-6 record in the elite European competition, remaining at the top of the table, while Club Brugge are still in the bottom quarter with four points.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Matchday 6

Tuesday

Kairat Almaty - Olympiacos 0-1 (0-0)

/Martins 73/

Bayern Munich - Sporting Lisbon 3-1 (0-0)

/Gnabry 65, Karl 69, Tah 77 - Kimmich 54 (og)/

Atalanta - Chelsea 2-1 (0-1)

/Scamacca 55, De Ketelaere 83 - Pedro 25/

Barcelona - Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 (0-1)

/Knauff 21, Kounde 50, 53/

Inter Milan - Liverpool 0-1 (0-0)

/Szoboszlai 88 pen/

Monaco - Galatasaray 1-0 (0-0)

/Balogun 68/

PSV Eindhoven - Atletico Madrid 2-3 (1-1)

/Til 10, Pepi 85 - Alvarez 37, Hancko 52, Sorloth 56/

St. Gilloise - Olympique Marseille 2-3 (1-2)

/Khalaili 5, 71 - Paixao 15, Greenwood 41, 58/

Tottenham - Slavia Prague 3-0 (1-0)

/Zima 26 og, Kudus 50 pen, Simons 79 pen/

Wednesday

Qarabag - Ajax 2-4 (1-1)

/Duran 10, Silva 47 - Dolberg 39, Gloukh 79, 90, Gaaei 82/

Villarreal - Copenhagen 2-3 (0-1)

/Comesana 47, Oluwaseyi 56 - Elyounoussi 2, Achouri 48, Cornelius 90/

Athletic Bilbao - PSG 0-0

Benfica - Napoli 2-0 (1-0)

/Rios 20, Barreiro 49/

Club Brugge - Arsena 0-3 (0-1)

/Madueke 25, 47, Martinelli 56/

Borussia Dortmund - Bodo/Glimt 2-2 (1-1)

/Brandt 18, 51 - Aleesami 42, Hauge 75/

Juventus - Pafos 2-0 (0-0)

/McKennie 67, David 72/

Bayer Leverkusen - Newcastle 2-2 (1-0)

/Guimaraes 13 (og), Grimaldo 88 - Gordon 51 pen, Miley 74/

Real Madrid - Manchester City 1-2 (1-2)

/Rodrygo 28 - O'Reilly 35, Haaland 43 pen/