Arsenal took a giant step towards sealing qualification for the Champions League knockout phase with victory over Slavia Prague on Wednesday night.
Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres had the Gunners in cruise control at half time at the Fortuna Arena, the latter producing, arguably, his best all-round performance since arriving from Sporting last summer.
Arsenal had chances to extend their lead through Eberechi Eze and Mikel Merino, but were almost punished for such profligacy.
As Slavia head coach Jindrich Trpisovsky tinkered with his system during the interval, a double substitution - combined with the Gunners not matching the high standards they set in the opening 45 minutes - meant the second half told a different story.
Gabriel was forced into a desperate clearance under his own bar, David Raya produced one sensational save to tip a header onto the post and Arsenal survived a VAR check for a Slavia Prague penalty.
Wiktor Nowak was able to pull a goal back for the hosts in second half stoppage time, but the Gunners held on to move up to third in the 36-team Champions League table following defeats for Liverpool and Real Betis.
It is now three wins and a draw for Arsenal from their opening four games in this season’s league phase, and victory in Prague should be enough to avoid an early elimination from the competition.
In fact, the result sees the Gunners move back to within two points of holders Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid - the only two sides with perfect winning records at the halfway stage.
Arsenal still have to play Jose Mourinho’s side, but next welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Emirates Stadium before rounding off the league phase against Real Betis and Sabah in the new year.
Of course, in this new Champions League format, the luxury a top-eight finish brings is automatic qualification to the last 16 as well as avoiding two extra games in the play-off round for the knockout phase.
As things currently stand, Mikel Arteta's side still have plenty of work ahead to ensure they finish in the top eight for a third consecutive season.
However, finishing in the top 24 is already within reach - based on the points totals from the last two league phase campaigns.
In 2024-25, Club Brugge qualified with 11 points, while nine points were enough for Benfica to scrape through in dramatic fashion 2025-26.
Arsenal already have 10 points from a possible 12. Therefore they can, perhaps, guarantee a place in this season’s Champions League knockout phase with victory over Dortmund on November 24 before targeting a bye into the round of 16.