Arsenal finish top of UCL league phase with win over Kairat

Kai Havertz scored on his first start for nearly a year as Arsenal completed a flawless league phase campaign, making it eight wins out of eight in the Champions League with victory over Kairat Almaty.

Arsenal had already secured a top-two finish with their 3-1 win over Inter Milan last week, meaning they are guaranteed home ties in the second legs of their knockout ties.

They took the lead on Wednesday after just two minutes when Havertz played through Viktor Gyokeres, and the forward powered a shot low into the net.

Kairat, who are bottom of the league phase with only one point, surprisingly levelled just three minutes later when Jorginho scored from the penalty spot after Riccardo Calafiori was adjudged to have pulled back the midfielder.

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Arsenal then resumed control, and Havertz, who was making his first start for the Gunners since 5 February last year, put his side ahead with a powerful left-foot finish.

Gyokeres missed a couple of good opportunities to add to his goal tally, but as he attempted to get on the end of a Havertz low cross into the area, he helped the ball on for Gabriel Martinelli to tap in from close range for Arsenal’s third.

Gabriel Jesus thought he had added a fourth late on, but his strike was ruled out for offside before Ricardinho nodded in a late goal to pull one back for Kairat.

The win means Arsenal finish top of the league phase and are only the second English side to win eight or more consecutive games in Champions League history, after Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who won10 in a row between May 2023 and March 2024.

There was not much jeopardy coming into this match, with Arsenal either going to finish first or second in the league phase.

But the match against Kairat allowed Mikel Arteta to rotate his squad, and the Arsenal manager made 11 changes.

The biggest positive of the night was that Arteta was able to name Havertz in a starting XI in a competitive game for the first time in 357 days.

Havertz is a huge favourite of Arteta’s and the Germany international had only played 59 minutes in the first team since recovering from the knee injury he suffered on the opening day of the season.

Havertz played in a midfield role, with Gyokeres leading the attacking line, and it was the first proper look at one option for how Arteta may use both players when they are available.

(BBC)