Arsenal survive late Slavia Prague scare to win 2-1 in Prague

Arsenal held on to beat Slavia Prague 2-1 at the Fortuna Arena on Wednesday, extending their unbeaten start to this season's Champions League campaign despite a difficult final half-hour, Sky Sports Football reported.

The visitors made the perfect start, taking the lead after nine minutes when Viktor Gyokeres won the ball back around the halfway line and released Noni Madueke, who ran clear and finished calmly past the Slavia goalkeeper, according to Yahoo Sports.

Gyokeres doubled Arsenal's advantage in the 38th minute, combining with Mikel Merino before finishing into the far corner, having already set up the opening goal in what Yahoo Sports described as an encouraging first half for the Swedish striker.

Arsenal went into the break 2-0 up having controlled possession and limited Slavia Prague's opportunities for long stretches of the opening period.

The second half told a different story. Slavia grew into the contest and put Arsenal's defence under sustained pressure, forcing David Raya into saves while Gabriel made two crucial goal-line clearances as the hosts searched for a route back into the game, Yahoo Sports reported.

Mikel Arteta responded with changes, sending on Cristhian Mosquera and Christos Tzolis in the 62nd minute for Ezri Konsa and Eberechi Eze, before Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber replaced Gyokeres and Ben White in the 78th minute. Max Dowman later came on for Madueke in stoppage time.

Slavia Prague's pressure eventually paid off when Wiktor Nowak pulled a goal back in the 90th minute, setting up an uneasy finish, but Arsenal held firm to take the three points, coming off the back of what Yahoo Sports called a historic victory over Liverpool at Anfield the previous Sunday.

Declan Rice played the full 90 minutes in Prague and showed visible signs of fatigue as the second half wore on, prompting concern from former Arsenal and England Women's midfielder Karen Carney.

'Declan Rice is by far the best midfielder in the country, for me,' Carney told TNT Sports, as reported by Metro Football. 'When he's tired and fatigued they are a different team, and when he's not in it.'

'In the second half he looked absolutely exhausted and then that's, for me, when Arsenal are a different team and they kind of lose their way a little bit,' Carney added. 'So that's something I'm a little bit concerned about because he's a top player but when his energy goes I think they slightly fall apart a bit.'

Former Liverpool and England midfielder Steve McManaman, working alongside Carney as a TNT Sports pundit, questioned Arsenal's attacking options, telling the broadcaster: 'They haven't got enough forwards, have they?'

Arteta played down the fitness concerns when asked about his decision to keep Rice on for the full match. 'The game required it, and he did,' the Arsenal manager said, according to Metro Football.

'He was as well rested against Fleetwood so he had a very good week to recover before Liverpool,' Arteta said. 'It's his second game in a week and not the fifth one. We expect our players to be able to do that and I think he had some very good moments throughout the game.'