Timber’s touch of class and supersub Saka secure Arsenal win against Lille

Twelve wins in a row and counting. On a night when Arsenal remembered Ken Friar, the club’s life president who was instrumental in their move from Highbury to the Emirates in 2006, it was fitting that Mikel ­Arteta’s side should rack up yet another Champions League milestone at their home that has become a fortress.

Such has Arsenal’s dominance been here in recent seasons that when Bukayo Saka slotted home their third against a dogged Lille side, it was the 36th goal they have scored at the Emirates in the league or group stage since returning to Europe’s top table under Arteta three years ago.

Arsenal have also now racked up 14 successive league-stage victories in this competition, even if Arteta’s side were made to work for this one and had to wait until the 64th minute to find the breakthrough. That came from the unlikely source of Jurriën Timber after Arsenal’s second-string attack, and Viktor Gyökeres in particular, had looked laboured at times.

But while Arteta may be concerned that it needed the introduction of Saka from the bench along with Martin Ødegaard and Kai Havertz to put this game to bed as Eberechi Eze added a second, they never looked in any danger of losing their proud record as Olivier Giroud received a standing ovation on his return to north London.

Arsenal paid tribute to Friar, who worked his way up from the box office to club secretary before becoming managing director in the 1980s, when his death at the age of 92 was confirmed earlier in the day and the players wore black armbands as a mark of respect. He would have been especially proud of their formidable record here under Arteta in this competition that stretches back to the 2023-24 season when they returned after an absence of six years. It’s little wonder that Arteta was so reluctant for redevelopment plans to go ahead given the disruption any temporary move away to Wembley or elsewhere would have caused.

Despite the absence of Piero Hincapié and Martín Zubimendi after they were both injured during the warm-down after the victory over Leeds on Saturday, the Arsenal manager was still able to make five changes.

Lille’s manager, Davide Ancelotti, who worked under his father, Carlo, at Everton and Real Madrid among others before being appointed during the summer in only his second senior role, resisted the temptation to start with 40-year-old Giroud against his former club. Aside from former Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentaleb anchoring the midfield, the French side who have made a promising start to the new campaign largely went with youth over experience.

They managed to keep the hosts quiet for the opening 20 minutes without really threatening David Raya.

Restored to his favoured right flank after excelling on the left against Leeds, Noni Madueke was once again Arsenal’s most dangerous outlet and the England forward combined with Timber to set up Bruno Guimarães and then Mikel Merino for decent chances that were spurned.

Ayase Ueda had the ball in Raya’s net after Bentaleb’s shot deflected off Timber and hit Hakon Haraldsson on the way through, with the video assistant referee confirming the Japan striker was marginally offside. But Arsenal lacked creativity with captain Ødegaard only watching from the bench and Gyökeres showing plenty of hustle and bustle yet making little real impact.

Normally such a reliable finisher, Merino snatched at a chance from 10 yards out that he normally would have buried after Lille failed to clear a cross.

It summed Arsenal’s first half up when Gyökeres could not get out of the way after Eze forced Berke Özer into his first proper save and was promptly flagged offside. Özer then had to scramble the ball away from the feet of the Sweden striker after spilling a shot from Guimarães on the stroke of half-time.

Arsenal resumed their domination of the ball after the break and continued to find Lille’s defence a tough nut to crack. The German referee waved away appeals when Guimarães went down in the area under pressure from Alexsandro but the Arsenal midfielder seemed to be looking for the contact.

A wayward effort that almost made it into the upper tier from Madueke was the signal for Arteta to summon Ødegaard Saka and Kai Havertz to get ready from the substitutes’ bench. Before they had time to be introduced, Arsenal finally found the breakthrough when Madueke set up Timber to apply a deft finish with his right foot after a brilliant first touch. Saka made an immediate impact by setting up Eze to dispatch the second with his left foot less than three minutes later before adding a third after combining with Havertz and Ødegaard. Lille must have wondered what had hit them.

As well as the chance to pay their respects to Giroud, the Arsenal fans were treated to a late cameo from the dazzling teenager Max Dowman to round off another very satisfying evening that has become the norm in these parts.