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Fans love to talk about invincibility in the area of North London, and it remains the sole description to characterize Mikel Arteta's performance with the club in continental group stage ties at the home ground. Currently, eight victories out of as many in the premier European competition with zero goals conceded. Adding to include the secondary European tournament from earlier in his tenure, it's 14 victories out of all with just two let in.

Olympiakos had come with a notable record of their making. They had triumphed on their past three visits to the Emirates, the latest two occurring in the knockout rounds of the Europa League, even if the second in 2020-21 did not prevent an overall defeat.

No one anticipated anything except another victory at home, the most recent demonstration of the team's power and squad quality even with this being a decent visiting side. It was more tense than the supporters would have liked in the closing stages, the opposition applying pressure and causing a nervous moments.

But Arteta's squad is difficult to breached. We are into the month and so far they have let in just three strikes in all competitions – just a single of them in regular play. The Brazilian forward scored for them in the early stages with the English winger, on as a substitute, taking a ball from the outstanding captain to make things safe in stoppage-time. Arsenal roll on.

Historical Context

Arsenal had to return to late 2019 for the last time they had failed to win a group match at their stadium in Europe; a defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in the tournament which resulted in the sacking of Unai Emery, the caretaker stint of the club legend and the arrival of Arteta, whose initial continental game would be against Olympiakos in the round of 32. It concluded in a dramatic overtime defeat at home and an away goals exit.

There were several noteworthy statistics around the match, many of them related to history. The last time they previously let in a goal in a continental group stage match on their own turf? It was versus Rapid Vienna in the four-one Europa League win in late 2020.

Team Selection

The manager rotated the squad to his starting eleven – six alterations from the weekend win at Newcastle – as he was always likely to do. When he could bring back players of the calibre of William Saliba and Ødegaard, it said plenty.

Ødegaard was on form at the start, bringing the urgency on the ball; the incision. The leader initiated an early move that saw Martinelli somehow heading the youngster's cross wide while alone in front of goal. It appeared to deflect off his shoulder.

Regardless. It was not long before Arsenal led and it was the Brazilian with the tap-in from a difficult position after Viktor Gyökeres saw the shot-stopper, the Olympiakos keeper, push his shot against the post. Ødegaard had played the pass to Gyökeres and it was all about the forward's strength; he barged in between two Olympiakos defenders to make it happen.

Match Highlights

Martinelli was on his less favoured right side; the Belgian on the left. Martinelli only had to passed to his teammate on 21 minutes when they countered with a numerical advantage. Instead, he attempted to beat the last man and failed to get around him.

Arsenal should have had additional goals before the half-time. Gyökeres ignored a square pass for Martinelli after Ødegaard's through-ball and shot at the keeper while Gabriel Magalhães went near following his corner. The forward swiped another chance high after a excellent ball from the winger.

Olympiakos, to their deserved praise, competed well. Their striker looped a header too close to the Arsenal goalkeeper just before Martinelli broke the deadlock and their best opportunity of the first half came in the 32nd minute when the midfielder caught a volley perfectly from his teammate's cross. The keeper pushed it over; an superb reaction stop.

The club owner, the Greek club proprietor, was present in the seats a few weeks after seeing one of his additional teams, Nottingham Forest, lose 3-0 at this venue. In the visitors' section, the Olympiakos supporters banged their drums and chanted their anthems. They are considered one of Europe's most passionate fanbases for good reason. Would the team provide a result?

Closing Stages

Arteta brought on the midfielder for Mikel Merino as he sought to control the remainder. The idea appeared to be containment; they changed down through the pace. The attacker missed a couple of opportunities but there was some anxiety in the home crowd; shouts for the players to wake up as they survived a scare midway through the half. The winger's cross was made to measure for El Kaabi, whose attempt was saved by the goalkeeper. The striker poked in the follow-up but he was in an offside position.

Arteta introduced Saka and Eberechi Eze while he was obliged to replace the centre-back for Cristhian Mosquera. The captain ought to have converted from close range only to be denied by the keeper and the Greeks retained belief. The England international would extinguish it at the very last.