Arsenal 4-1 Rapid Wien: 5 talking points as Gunners cruise to a comfortable victory in front of 2000 fans at the Emirates | UEFA Europa League 2020-21
Arsenal fans returned to the Emirates Stadium for the first time in nine months as the Gunners secured a comfortable 4-1 victory over Rapid Wien on Thursday. The last time there were spectators at the stadium was on March 7, when Alexandre Lacazette scored the only goal against West Ham United.
The Frenchman did not take long to break the deadlock against Rapid Wien as he fired a long-range strike past Rapid Wien's goalkeeper, Richard Strebinger, in the tenth minute.
Pablo Mari doubled Arsenal's lead minutes later as he headed home from close range. The flow of the UEFA Europa League game was in one direction, with Arsenal dominating all the attacking action. Eddie Nketiah scored just before half-time to make it 3-0 for the Gunners.
The match ended 4-1 to Arsenal, with Koya Kitagawa and Emile Smith Rowe scoring for their teams in the second half of the game.
Here are five talking points from the game as Mikel Arteta's side continue their perfect run.
#5 Arsenal welcome defensive options back into the team
Pablo Mari last played for Arsenal in their defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in June. He suffered an ankle ligament injury during that game and had been out of action since.
Nearly six months after his injury, the Spaniard returned to the Gunners' starting eleven against Rapid Wien and scored his first Arsenal goal. Before he arrived at north London, Mari netted 17 goals in 281 club appearances.
Besides Mari, Arsenal also welcomed Calum Chambers back into the first team. The Englishman hasn't played since December 2019 after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament. It's been a month since he resumed full training and he made two appearances for Arsenal's Under-23 side.
Chambers came on as a substitute for the remaining 20 minutes of the match. It was encouraging to see Chambers return to action after a long injury layoff.
#4 A step forward as fans return to the Emirates Stadium
It's been a long while since fans headed to stadiums to watch football matches. Even though there were only 2,000 socially distanced fans out of the possible 60,260 spectators, their presence at the Emirates Stadium could be felt.
In fact, the fans might have played a role in inspiring this comfortable victory against Rapid Wien. When Arsenal traveled to Austria for their opening Europa League game, they visibly struggled. Things worked in the Gunners' favor in the 70th minute when David Luiz scored the equalizer and thankfully, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang helped Arsenal take the lead four minutes later.
Despite conceding a goal in this game, Arsenal dealt comfortably with the pressure from Rapid Wien. The Gunners had superior possession, passing accuracy and shots attempted. As compared to their Premier League games, this was a pretty easy game for them.