Girona 1-2 Arsenal - 3 takeaways as Gunners secure progression

Arsenal secured progression to the Round of 16 in the Champions League with a 2-1 win over Girona.

It was simply a matter of getting the job done, and while Arsenal initially made hard work of that, Mikel Arteta's side got the desired result with a 2-1 win over Girona to secure passage to the Round of 16 in the Champions League.

After going behind inside half an hour thanks to Arnaut Danjuma's first-time curling effort after being played in behind with Thomas Partey caught out, there was a sense of "here we go again" as the Gunners fell behind to a one-win team in Europe.

But those feelings didn't last long as Jorginho equalized from the spot just 10 minutes later after Partey was tripped in the box, and then just four minutes later, Ethan Nwaneri unleashed a superb curling effort to put the Gunners ahead.

While Girona thought they had an equalizer midway through the second half, VAR ruled it out for offside and the Gunners managed to hold on for a gritty win despite Raheem Sterling's late penalty miss.

Here are three takeaways from the 2-1 win over Girona.

Nwaneri continues to impress

Much like the player he's replacing in Bukayo Saka, we are already beginning to run out of superlatives for the teenager and his curling effort to give the Gunners the lead was eerily similar to so many of Saka's strikes.

Ethan picked up the ball, shifted it onto his left and drove inside his defender before unleashing a superb curling effort that Pau López had no chance of saving.

Sign him up, Mikel. A five or 10-year deal. Whatever it is, our Hale End starlet is something else.

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