Arsenal beat Slavia 3-0 to maintain 100% Champions League record

PRAGUE :Mikel Merino scored twice, after a first-half Bukayo Saka penalty, as Arsenal swept aside Slavia Prague 3-0 on Tuesday to maintain their 100 per cent record in the Champions League with four wins from four games without conceding a goal.

England winger Saka put the Premier League leaders ahead in the 32nd minute at the Fortuna Arena after Gabriel's header hit Slavia captain Lukas Provod's raised hand and a VAR review confirmed the handball.

Merino, replacing Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres who was injured at the weekend, made it 2-0 on the volley after 36 seconds of the second half after a cross from the unmarked Leandro Trossard.

He put Arsenal 3-0 ahead in the 68th minute with a header flicked past goalkeeper Jakub Markovic after Declan Rice lofted the ball into the area.

Arsenal, who brought on 15-year-old Max Dowman in the second half to become the youngest-ever player in the Champions League, have not conceded a goal in eight successive matches in all competitions - equalling a club record set in 1903.

Slavia are still without a win in the league phase and remain on two points.

(Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Toby Davis)