Arsenal 6-0 Lens: Jesus can finish, a front five to fear and qualification secured

Arsenal produced an emphatic display to beat Lens and qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League as Group B winners.

They were 4-0 up in 27 minutes at the Emirates tonight, thanks to goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli before Martin Odegaard added a fifth in first-half stoppage time. Substitute Jorginho converted a penalty, his first goal for the club, with four minutes remaining.

It all took Mikel Arteta’s team to 12 points after five games, four in front of PSV Eindhoven in second place.

It is the fastest any English club has scored four goals in a UEFA competition match since 1998, as they put the 2-1 defeat to the same opponents last month in France to the back of their mind. They struggled to contain the running power of Lens that night but it was a different story here as they showed the gulf in class between the teams with ruthless finishing.

It means the trip to face PSV in the Netherlands in a fortnight is now a dead rubber but, after five seasons without Champions League football, this was the perfect way to round off progression into the last 16.

Why is Jesus so lethal in the Champions League?

When Jesus injured a hamstring in the middle of October after only two months back from a pre-season knee operation, Arteta cautioned that he may have to ease the Brazil forward back into things this time around.

How Jesus must have chuckled. He does not do incremental, only full-throttle. If there were any fears that it may take Jesus a few weeks to rediscover his sharpness after his second injury of the season then his performance against Lens reassured fans that he is ready to be their talisman in Europe.

It was his second start of the week after leading the line against Brentford but this was the sort of matador performance he produced against Sevilla last month before getting injured that night.

Jesus says finishing is not his strong point… (Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)

There is something about this competition that seems to bring out the best in him. The space afforded by Lens’ press helped but the way he took his goal, feigning a shot to send Kevin Danso sliding into next week before calmly slotting home, was like a kid in the playground and he physically bullied the Lens back line time and again.

It took him to 23 goals in the competition for Manchester City and now Arsenal, a total that surpasses compatriots Roberto Firmino (22), Romario (20), Ronaldinho (18) and Ronaldo (14).

Not bad for someone who says finishing is not his strongest suit.

How far can Arsenal’s front five take them in Europe?

When Arteta was looking into his crystal ball in the summer, this must have been the vision — his two attacking midfielders, in Odegaard and Havertz, along with his front three, of Saka, Martinelli and Jesus, all scoring in the same match.

Tonight was the first time in any of the 21 games this season they have all started together, but it clicked into gear better than anyone could have hoped for.

There is the obvious caveat that Lens, like PSV in September’s group opener here, played into Arsenal’s hands by trying to go toe-to-toe with them, but this was still lightning-quick attacking play.

Odegaard scored the fifth at half-time (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Rarely is a team from one of the top five domestic leagues of Europe taken apart this brutally, but every time Arsenal counter-attacked in the first half it looked like they were going to score.

That front five only functioned so well because the press, whenever they lost the ball, was relentless — and Declan Rice was back in as the midfield anchor.

How many players should Arteta rest in Eindhoven?

With 10 games between the November international break and New Year, finding room to breathe in the calendar is hard to come by.

By killing this game off early, Arsenal not only allowed both full-backs Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko to be rotated for Ben White and Jakub Kiwior at half-time, it has likely given some of their key players a night off for that trip to PSV in two weeks. Saka was spared the last 25 minutes here, Rice was able to put his feet up for 15 minutes and Jesus watched the final 10 from the bench.

Players such as Rice and Saka have racked up 25 games overall this season, and have had niggles along the way. Not needing to travel to, and play on, the continent in the days before a tough game against Brighton & Hove Albion could be a valuable bonus.

Last season, Arteta stuck with virtually the same team the entire season, partly because of the drop-off in quality to some of the backup players. Arsenal now have added depth and that match in the Netherlands offers the likes of Kiwior, Aaron Ramsdale, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah game time, along with the possibility of handing Champions League debuts to 16-year-old Ethan Nwaneri and 17-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly.

What did Arsenal say?

“Today was the day to get it done — we did it in a beautiful way,” Arteta told TNT Sports, the game’s UK broadcaster. “We scored five goals against a really good side (in the first half). You can become really sloppy. And there were parts of the second half with different behaviours but we stayed really focused.

“It’s great, because to win the group because the schedule we have is crazy. We’re already thinking about Wolves in 72 hours. We have to demand more from each other. We’ll have to be well prepared for Wolves.”

“We were amazing and controlled the game,” Jesus told TNT. “Playing at home, we know our support is amazing. They pushed us. We wanted to win the game and qualify.

“I watch the Champions League a lot at home. The Champions League is special. I have already won the Premier League, I want to win it here, but I want to win the Champions League as well.”

What next for Arsenal?

Saturday, December 2: Wolverhampton Wanderers (H), Premier League, 3pm GMT, 10am ET

Arsenal have won four matches in a row against Wolves, including a 5-0 Emirates thrashing in the final game of last season.

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