Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos: Report, result and goals as Gabriel injured in Gunners win

Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka ensured Arsenal made it two wins from two in the Champions League with a 2-0 defeat of Olympiacos, though the victory may have come at a cost.

Arsenal began the league phase with victory at Athletic Bilbao and, after they needed a 96th-minute goal to complete a comeback and beat Newcastle United 2-1 in the Premier League, Mikel Arteta shuffled his pack for the visit of the Greek champions.

Martinelli netted the opener point-blank range, following up after Viktor Gyokeres had hit the post.

The floodgates did not open thereafter, however, with Olympiacos producing a spirited effort, and there was concern late on when defender Gabriel was forced off through injury.

Saka finally put the game to bed in the second minute of added time when he squirmed a finish under Konstantinos Tzolakis.

Martinelli taps Arsenal ahead

Martinelli headed narrowly wide of the post following good work down the left from Myles Lewis-Skelly, but there was no chance he would miss when the fell to him inches from the goal after Gyokeres latched on to Martin Odegaard’s superb throughball and held off two defenders to fire a low effort underneath Tzolakis.

Olympiacos were undeterred by going behind and forced David Raya into a fine save to keep out Daniel Podence’s volley.

Podence then nearly turned creator when he lifted a dangerous cross into the Arsenal box, only for Ayoub El Kaabi to head wide of the post.

Arsenal failed to make the most of those reprieves, with Leandro Trossard spurning a chance to make it 2-0 as he took too long to get his shot away following more impressive play from Odegaard. Lorenzo Pirola blocked the Belgium forward’s eventual effort.

Saka seals it after Gabriel injury

Olympiacos looked to have their leveller when Chiquinho turned home on the rebound after Raya produced heroics to keep out El Kaabi’s header, yet their joy was short-lived as the assistant referee flagged for offside.

There were concerning scenes 15 minutes from the end of normal time when Gabriel went down, with the medical team soon signalling that he would need to be substituted.

Cristhian Mosquera came on in his place and will likely start against West Ham on Saturday if Gabriel is not fit to play, but Saka made sure the Gunners will head into that game on the back of a slightly more convincing win when he doubled Arsenal’s advantage, converting after another fine pass from the instrumental Odegaard.