Arsenal 6-0 RC Lens - 3 talking points as Gunners steamroll Lens

Arsenal emphatically dismantled RC Lens at the Emirates Stadium with five first half goals obliterating the visitors in devastating fashion.

Nothing in life is perfect, but Arsenal's 6-0 win over RC Lens in the Champions League was darn close. The win now sees the Gunners qualify for the knockout stages with a game to spare as it was party time early in the contest.

Goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, and Gabrial Martinelli in a scintillating 14-minute burst saw Arsenal blow the game apart. If that wasn't enough as the Gunners were 4-0 up inside 30 minutes, then just before halftime, skipper Martin Odegaard lashed home his volley to make it a five-star performance from the Gunners.

As expected in the second half, Mikel Arteta rang the changes to keep his squad fresh as Reiss Nelson, Jakub Kiwior, Ben White, and Eddie Nketiah all got much-needed minutes as the game lost its edge given the scoreline.

The game provided plenty of talking points; here they are.

Kai Havertz has...arrived?

The German is now in some form as he has now scored in back-to-back games for Arsenal as he finally looks to be settling into his surroundings.

It has taken longer than most wanted, simply given his hefty price tag, but Havertz is now starting to show confidence in an Arsenal shirt. He went close to opening the scoring early on as his header went just wide but made up for it shortly after as he got on the end of Jesus' flick-on.

Two in two for the German as the naysayers are a little quiet in north London right now.

Arsenal's front 3 roar back into form

Much has been made of Arsena'ls front three of Saka, Jesus, and Martinelli not firing on all cylinders this season simultaneously, but against Lens, my word they were back to their best.

All three got on the score sheet as Jesus' form in the Champions League is otherwordly as he scored his fourth goal of the campaign. Saka's goal was fortunate, and Martinelli's was simply sublime as he was given space to terrorize.

All three got in on the act as they were borderline unstoppable on a superb night at the Emirates.

Knockout stages here we come

With a game to spare, Arsenal has secured its passage to the knockout rounds (if the first opponent is Bayern Munich then so help us), as the final game against PSV is now meaningless, which is just as well.

The thought of travelling to face PSV needing a result to qualify top would have been tough to do, but thanks to their work in the early part of the group stages, that game will now likwly be used to given the fringe players in the squad some minutes, while resting the starters.

Four wins from five games, 15 goals scored and only three conceded and a knockout round ticket secured. That'll do.