The Guardian
13 October 2026
Right, that’s all from me. Bye! Before I go, here’s Ed Aarons’ match report again:
And by way of parting gift here’s Sid Lowe on Manchester United’s defeat at Atletico Madrid:
Good performance. We done what we needed to do, played free and enjoyed it, which is the main thing. A lot of teams come here with a lot of energy so the first half can be quite difficult, but the aim is to grind teams down.
Twelve wins in a row and counting. On a night when Arsenal remembered Ken Friar – the club’s life president who was instrumental in their move from Highbury to the Emirates in 2006 – it was fitting that Mikel Arteta’s side should rack up yet another Champions League milestone at their home that has become a fortress.
Such has Arsenal’s dominance been here in recent seasons that when Bukayo Saka slotted home their third against a dogged Lille side, it was the 36th goal they have scored at the Emirates in the league or group stage since returning to Europe’s top table under Arteta three years ago.
While we wait for our match report, here’s one on England’s 5-0 trouncing of Greece in their women’s World Cup play-off:
Arsenal 3-0 Lille Atletico Madrid 2-0 Manchester United
Galatasaray 1-4 Barcelona
Internazionale 3-4 Club Brugge
Lens 0-2 Sporting RB Leipzig 1-0 PSV Sabah 2-0 Slavia Prague Viking 3-3 Bayern Munich* Villarreal 3-1 Napoli
* Drama here: Viking 2-0 up at half-time, 2-3 down when Michael Olise was sent off for a second yellow card in the 73rd minute, and they snatched a last-minute equaliser.
I had some moments in the first half. The first touch was good, which was half of the job. Then Noni was screaming “Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!”, so I shot. I wasn’t thinking too much. I was just thinking, “I need to shoot”. We needed that first goal. We were playing well but we needed that goal. We know how good we are. First half we had some moments, we were sloppy, but we were always in control. We just need to keep going. It’s still early in the season.
90+4 mins: It’s all over! Three goals in eight minutes carry Arsenal to victory over an impressively organised but ultimately outclassed Lille, who simply couldn’t give the ball away as frequently as they did in the second half and get away with it.
90+2 mins: Havertz closes down the keeper a little overenthusiastically, catches him as he follows through having made his clearance, and is booked.
90+1 mins: Into stoppage time, of which there’ll be three minutes or so.
90 mins: A lovely first-time pass from Odegaard to Dowman, inside a congested penalty area. Doesn’t come to anything, but absolutely great all the same.
88 mins: Manchester United, meanwhile, are two goals and a man down in Madrid.
85 mins: Arsenal bring Max Dowman on for Eze.
84 mins: Arsenal playing at walking pace, which they were pretty much doing for much of the first hour but which feels much less aggravating now.
82 mins: Lille bring Soriba Diaoune on for Bakwa.
81 mins: Goffi gets booked for fouling Eze, not a good challenge at all, but not quite bad enough for anything more severe.
78 mins: Olivier Giroud gets the fourth-loudest cheer of the night so far as he comes on for Ueda. Calvin Verdonk also comes on, for Perraud, and Arsenal bring Ben White on for Timber.
Lille's Olivier Giroud applauds the crowd as comes on as a substitute. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
77 mins: Lille give the ball away again, about 40 yards from their goal, and Arsenal have four against two and really should score. But Guimaraes has no interest in passing it, and instead takes a shot from 25 yards that Ozer saves.
77 mins: Olivier Giroud is, apparently, about to get his moment.
76 mins: Not having Gyokeres on the pitch makes such a big difference for Arsenal.
73 mins: Almost a chance for Lille! Rice thinks he’s been fouled but the referee waves play on, the ball is played infield from the right to Bakwa, and Konsa throws himself in the way of his shot.
73 mins: Lille take off Bentaleb and Mukau, and bring on Sahraoui and Kjaergaard.
I’m old enough to remember when this game felt close. The three substitutes combine for this one: Odegaard releases Havertz down the right side of the penalty area, he cuts back to Saka, and Saka sidefoots across goal and in at the far post!
Bukayo Saka slots home for Arsenal’s third goal. Photograph: Ed Sykes/Allstar Picture Library/Sportsphoto
Saka celebrates with Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timberl. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
70 mins: Save! Arsenal are now all but unstoppable. Saka’s cross from the right almost falls to Rice, and a few seconds later Eze is played in to the left of goal, but Ozer gets a hand to his shot.
Arsenal double their lead, and this goal is all the sweeter for coming from the ball being gifted to them by the former Spurs midfielder Nabil Bentaleb. It’s played down the right to Saka, whose first touch is to pass into the middle, where Eze’s shot deflects (I think) past Ozer.
Eberechi Eze doubles Arsenal’s lead. Photograph: Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC/Getty Images
Eze celebrates. Photograph: John Walton/PA
65 mins: Arsenal make their triple substitution, with Madueke, Merino and Gyokeres going off for Saka, Odegaard and Havertz.
65 mins: Madueke plays the ball into Timber, inside the penalty area but with his back to goal, whose first touch takes him past Andre, and whose second dinks it over Ozer. That really is very good.
Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber lifts the ball over Lille’s keeper Berke Ozer to open the scoring. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/Reuters
Here’s a view of Timber’s fabulous finish from up in the stands. Photograph: Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC/Getty Images
Timber celebrates his fine finish. Photograph: John Walton/PA
Arsenal take the lead thanks to a lovely piece of work from Jurrien Timber!
63 mins: Lille haven’t got out of their half since the break. They’ve been appalling in possession, but still defensively and organisationally excellent.
62 mins: Arteta has seen enough, and is readying Havertz, Saka and Odegaard for an imminent triple change.
61 mins: Guimaraes attempts a 360-degree penalty-area pirouette. Sure, he loses the ball, but those dancing feet!
60 mins: Guimaraes runs into the area and goes down, and this time Arsenal are interested. But the referee is not, and neither is VAR.
59 mins: Lille take too long over a defensive throw-in, and it gets handed to Arsenal. But again, nothing comes of it.
57 mins: It may be time for Arsenal to utilise their bench – the only thing that’s really changed since half-time is the amount of grumbling coming from the crowd.
54 mins: Arsenal keep the ball for a while, but the closer they get to goal the less keen they seem to be to reach it.
52 mins: Madueke catches Perraud, who goes down, smacking the turf with a palm in apparent agony. So the referee blows his whistle, at which point Perraud’s agony magically evaporates, and he gets up.
51 mins: Arsenal do appear to have been instructed to get a move on, and the ball is zipping about with a bit more pace. Which is promising.
49 mins: Guimaraes takes the first shot of the second half, but it’s not very good, and floats harmlessly high and wide.
48 mins: … but that doesn’t lead to anything more than a goal kick.
47 mins: The first half ended(ish) with a couple of Arsenal corners and the second half has started similarly. This time they’re also going to get a third, which Rice is going to take.
46 mins: Peeeeeeep! Arsenal get the ball re-rolling.
The players are back out at the Emirates, with no halftimely changes.
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Manchester United
Galatasaray 1-1 Barcelona
Viking 2-0 Bayern Munich Lens 0-2 Sporting Sabah 2-0 Slavia Prague Internazionale 1-1 Club Brugge RB Leipzig 0-0 PSV Villarreal 2-1 Napoli
Arsenal have had two excellent chances, one created with a move down the right which ended with Guimaraes shooting wide, and one created with a move down the left which ended with Eze having a shot saved. They’ve been the better team, but Lille have been well organised and hard working, and goalless it remains.
45+1 mins: Save! Guimaraes’s deflected shot bamboozles Ozer, who can’t hold on to it and has to dive again to claw the ball off the toes of Gyokeres and out for a corner.
Lille's goalkeeper Berke Ozer saves in front of Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
45 mins: … and his second attempt is cleared.
44 mins: Madueke takes the corner, which is headed behind for another corner.
43 mins: Madueke backheels into the path of the overlapping Timber, but he can’t pick out Gyokeres with his low cross, which is turned behind.
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