Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos: Martinelli inspirational again in Champions League win

Gabriel Martinelli came up with another vital Champions League goal as Arsenal edged past Olympiacos 2-0 in their first home match of the league phase.

Martinelli came off the bench to score one and create the other in the Gunners’ opening win by the same scoreline at Athletic Bilbao, and he was the hero again on Wednesday before Bukayo Saka’s late second clinched victory.

The Brazil winger was named in the starting XI this time and wasted little time in making an impact, netting the opener in scrappy fashion after 12 minutes.

Martinelli had already passed up a very presentable chance in the second minute when he miscued a header, but he was on hand to tap in when Viktor Gyokeres’ shot squirmed under the goalkeeper but hit the foot of the left-hand post.

Mikel Arteta would have hoped that strike might set in motion a comfortable evening at Emirates Stadium, yet this proved anything but, and David Raya soon made a sublime stop from Daniel Podence as his team-mates made and missed further opportunities in attack.

A similarly miraculous Konstantinos Tzolakis save denied Martin Odegaard eight minutes from time, but the Arsenal captain then turned provider for Saka, whose low shot crept past the Olympiacos keeper.

JOB DONE.

Saka latches onto Odegaard’s delicious throughball before firing home

2-0 (90+2) pic.twitter.com/n2vxUXpFtr

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 1, 2025

Data debrief: Martinelli making his mark

It was a largely dominant performance from the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium, producing 2.73 expected goals (xG) from 16 shots to Olympiacos’ 0.51 from 10 attempts.

Martinelli has responded exactly as Arteta would have hoped, with his contributions in Bilbao followed by a precious equaliser against Manchester City. It means no other Arsenal player now has more goal contributions than his four this season (three goals, one assist).

This is the first time Martinelli has scored in consecutive Champions League matches, but he and Arteta will hope there is more to come. Martinelli has scored exactly twice in each of his three Champions League campaigns.