Qarabag 0 Arsenal 3: Emile Smith Rowe and Mattéo Guendouzi score first goals to secure eighth straight win

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Joe Krishnan4 October 2018

Arsenal cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory against Qarabag in Baku to make it eight wins in a row under Unai Emery.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored a rather fortuitous opener after five minutes before Emile Smith Rowe and Matteo Guendouzi bagged their first goals for the club in the second half.

Emery made nine changes to the side that won 2-0 against Watford at the weekend and that included 18-year-old Smith Rowe, who was making his first start in European competition.

And it didn't take long for them to open the scoring. Mohamed Elneny delivered an inviting corner and Nacho Monreal rose to head it towards goal, but it hit Sokratis and trickled past Qarabag goalkeeper Vagner.

The Azerbaijani outfit had a number of opportunities to get back into it, however, and Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno twice had to deny Mahir Madatov, and then later the German denied Filip Ozobic.

But the game was done and dusted when Smith Rowe was played in by Alex Iwobi and the youngster finished smartly through the legs of Vagner.

It was a huge moment for the Croydon-born academy product who scored his first senior goal in Arsenal colours.

Arsenal slipped into cruise control and Emery sent on Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette, before Guendouzi made it three late on to seal the three points in Baku.

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