Arsenal easily defeated Zagreb to virtually guarantee a spot in the round of 16.

Arsenal easily defeated Zagreb

Arsenal easily defeated Zagreb to virtually guarantee a spot in the round of 16.

The Gunners defeated Croatian team Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 at Emirates Stadium. Virtually guaranteeing their spot in the Champions League round of 16.

The only thing that will keep the third-place. Gunners from finishing in the top eight and avoiding the competition’s play-off stage is a crushing loss in. Girona the following week.

Kai Havertz deflected Gabriel Martinelli’s cross into Declan Rice’s path. And the England midfielder smashed the ball past Zagreb keeper. Ivan Nevistic to give Arsenal the lead in the second minute.

Havertz headed in a curling Martinelli cross to add a second goal at the 66-minute mark. His 500th goal under manager Mikel Arteta. Later, captain Martin Odegaard bundled in a third goal.

With one of their few attempts, captain Arijan Ademi fired far over from a distance as Zagreb hardly entered. The Arsenal half.

The Gunners had two more chances to score: center-back Gabriel headed wide from the edge of the six-yard box from a corner, then Rice had a shot blocked following a deft pass from Odegaard.

In order to set his team for success in the final.

Arteta had stated that he wanted them to “capitalise” on the work they had done thus far in the group stage.

When Rice scored the first goal for Arsenal since Yaya Sanogo’s 72-second effort against Borussia Dortmund in 2014, the Gunners did that right away and allayed any nerves that could have been present.

They appeared strong defensively once more, and only Inter Milan have given up fewer goals than Arteta’s team has allowed.

The Spaniard also benefited from being able to start Ethan Nwaneri and Riccardo Calafiori on the bench after both players recovered from injuries.

Due to a minor knock, Myles Lewis-Skelly was not included in the squad. Arteta will be hoping to have the 18-year-old eligible for selection in the near future.

More generally, though, he will want to make sure his team can carry over their impressive home record in Europe—they have only lost one of their last 26 home group-stage matches—into the knockout stage.