Eddie Nketiah and Fábio Vieira shine to ease Arsenal past Bodø/Glimt

Arsenal have control of Group A after two games and got through the hard work quickly with the intensity Mikel Arteta had demanded. They treated Bodø/Glimt like any other opponent during a ferocious first half, scoring through Eddie Nketiah and Rob Holding inside half an hour, before allowing the away side to show why they have risen towards Europe’s summit for spells of the second. Fábio Vieira, particularly impressive in that opening spell, provided a deserved late gloss.

From the start there was, by the standards of a Europa League meeting, a palpable electricity around the Emirates. Arsenal are a hot ticket again and the crowd could welcome a side that retained Gabriel Magalhães, Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli from the starting XI that outclassed Spurs.

The atmosphere also owed plenty to a vibrant tranche of Bodø/Glimt supporters, clad in custard yellow and in full voice an hour before kick-off. Their club, based inside the Arctic Circle, are the Norwegian champions and missed out on the Champions League group stage by a whisker; the “kamikaze football” overseen by Kjetil Knutsen famously yielded a 6-1 win over Roma in last season’s Conference League.

It is a genuine football fairytale, even if any visions of a win here constituted a chapter too far. Arteta’s players made their usual rapid start, Vieira seeing a shot blocked before sending a rasping drive off the bar and behind. In between those two chances, Nketiah glided infield before floating a delicate effort past Nikita Haikin, the visitors’ Russian goalkeeper, and inches wide.

Bodø/Glimt had been required to complete their journey to the Emirates on foot after their bus struggled to pick its way through north London’s back streets. They looked willing to