Arsenal hold on to win at Sevilla and boost Champions League qualification hopes

Arsenal narrowly beat Sevilla 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday night at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

The Premier League side took the lead through a fine Gabriel Martinelli goal and that lead was doubled at the start of the second with a great finish from Gabriel Jesus.

Milan Gudelj soon grabbed a goal back for Sevilla, but they were unable to force an equaliser.

Sevilla is never an easy place to go in Europe, even if they are struggling from a defensive perspective. That is why it took Arsenal until the very end of the first half before they were able to find the breakthrough.

When they did, it was a very impressive goal. After a Sevilla attack was repelled by Arsenal, Gabriel Jesus superbly controlled the ball and turned his defender. He then split the defence by spotting the run of Martinelli who was through on goal.

The Brazilian kept his cool and rounded Orjan Nyland before slotting into an empty net. There was clear relief on the Arsenal bench that they had made the breakthrough before half time.

Gabriel Jesus's superb goal

Shortly into the second half, Arsenal were playing like a relieved team and Gabriel Jesus was the danger man. He made his way into the box from left less than 10 minutes into the half and hit a wonderful curling shot into the far top corner, doubling Arsenal's lead.

Unfortunately for the Gunners, they were not able to maintain that two-goal lead for very long. Just five minutes later, Gudelj powered a header into the back of the net from a corner, a goal that Arsenal could have easily avoided conceding.

That goal meant that the second half was a much nervier affair than it needed to be for Arsenal, who would have been happy to protect their two-goal advantage until the final whistle.

The victory takes Arsenal to the top of Group B, one point ahead of Lens in second place after three games