Arsenal left Prague with a 2-1 victory over Slavia in the Champions League on Wednesday night, a result that extended the hosts’ winless run in the competition’s main phase to 23 matches, according to ČT sport. The Gunners, last season’s finalists, went into halftime 2-0 up in front of 19,308 spectators at Eden Arena before Slavia produced a second-half surge that fell just short of an equalizer, Seznam Zprávy reported.

Mikel Arteta’s side took the lead in the ninth minute through Noni Madueke and doubled their advantage before the break when Viktor Gyökeres struck in the 38th minute, ČT sport reported. Slavia captain Tomáš Holeš acknowledged his team wasted the opening 45 minutes, but the home side roared back after the interval, with Oscar Kubiak forcing a save from David Raya before Juráskův centr klubkem hráčů k Nowakovi, který míč snadno doklepl do odkryté branky. The goalscorer was Nowak, who tapped home in stoppage time.

First-Half Control, Second-Half Collapse

Arsenal dominated the opening period. Gyökeres slipped Madueke through under pressure and the winger finished between the goalkeeper’s legs in the ninth minute, ČT sport reported. Arsenal scored their first goal in each of their last seven Champions League matches, the outlet noted. When Zima lost possession outside the penalty area, Gyökeres was released and scored with a precise shot off the far post for his 12th goal of the competition in the 38th minute.

Slavia did not threaten the Arsenal goal in the first half. The turnaround came immediately after Trpišovský made two substitutions at the break, ČT sport reported. Kubiak’s header soon forced Raya to tip the ball onto the crossbar, and Chytil’s close-range header went narrowly wide.

Sport.cz put hard numbers to the shift: Slavia had 17 shots on target to Arsenal’s four and a higher expected goals tally, 2.23 to 1.49, with possession roughly even. Two of the biggest chances of the night fell to Kubiak, both saved by Raya.

Arteta Takes “Full Responsibility” for the Performance

Arteta was blunt in his post-match assessment, as reported by Sport.cz. “We didn’t do what we wanted and should have,” he said. “It’s a big lesson; we have to learn from the first and second half. We play a lot of matches in a short span, three away in a row now, which is an objective fact, but I don’t want to use it as an excuse. I take full responsibility for the performance.”

He singled out Slavia’s resilience. “Winning away is very difficult,” Arteta said, per Sport.cz. “Until halftime we held a high tempo, intensity and precision. But Slavia is a team that, if you give them a finger, they take the whole hand. They took advantage of the situations and we were far from our standard. The basics didn’t work for us. We really still have things to learn. We expected something different, but we’re glad for the win.”

Asked whether Slavia was a better team than the one Arsenal beat 3-0 at the same venue a year ago, Arteta declined to compare directly but praised their spirit, Sport.cz reported. “They are very good,” he said. “In the second half things didn’t go our way; they had an incredible team and sporting spirit. They keep believing in what they can achieve. They stand by their principles, and even when they have difficulties, they overcome them. They caused us problems.”

The Numbers Behind Slavia’s Surge

The statistical contrast tells the story of a match that turned on its head. Sport.cz reported Slavia outshot Arsenal 17 to 4 on target and posted the higher xG, while Seznam Zprávy noted the home side nearly leveled at 2-2 before the final whistle. The sold-out Eden crowd stood and applauded Slavia off the pitch despite the defeat, Seznam Zprávy reported — recognition, the outlet wrote, of a side that unsettled a far more experienced opponent and came within touching distance of a draw.

Holeš, the Slavia captain, told Seznam Zprávy the dressing room needed “sharper words” at halftime to wake up. “To compete with such an excellent and experienced opponent, we have to play well for all 90 minutes,” he said. “It showed again what we are still missing. But if we have to lose in the Champions League, then after a performance like the one we gave in the second half. It’s further motivation to be better next time.”

A Record Slavia Would Rather Not Own

The defeat extended a streak that has defined Slavia’s European campaigns for nearly two decades. According to Seznam Zprávy and ČT sport, no club in the modern Champions League has waited longer for a win: Slavia’s last victory in the main phase came in September 2007, when they beat Steaua Bucharest at the old Strahov stadium. The 23-match drought now matches the run once put together by Steaua itself, and only AEK Athens’ 24-game winless sequence from 1992 to 2006 is longer, though that included non-group-stage matches, ČT sport noted.

The head-to-head record offers little comfort either. ČT sport reported that Slavia have never beaten Arsenal in six meetings, and Czech clubs have lost 10 European ties to English opponents.

Where Both Teams Stand Now

Arsenal moved to 10 points from four league-phase matches and sit third among the 36 teams, having dropped points only in a draw at Bayern Munich, ČT sport reported. Slavia, with one point, are third from the bottom of the table. The Czech champions’ next chance to end the streak comes on November 25, when they host Villarreal at Eden Arena, both ČT sport and Seznam Zprávy reported.

Arteta arrived in Prague with respect for his opposite number. Ahead of the match, Eurofotbal quoted him praising Jindřich Trpišovský, who is approaching ten years in charge of Slavia: “Trpišovský is ahead of me; almost ten years at the team is a lot. It shows his quality as a coach and as a person. You have to do a lot of things right, how you deal with people inside and outside the club. I want to congratulate him.” The two coaches had met three times before, most recently in the 2021 Europa League quarterfinals.

Arsenal’s visit also carried a somber note. Eurofotbal reported that the squad observed a moment of remembrance for Tenerife forward Jesús de Miguel, who died after a collision in Spain’s second division, and that defender William Saliba returned to training ahead of a possible return from a back injury.

For Slavia, the night ended with the familiar frustration of a club still searching for a first Champions League win in 19 years, but also with the rare consolation of a performance that earned a standing ovation at full time. As Holeš put it, per Seznam Zprávy: when you lose to a giant, lose after playing like that.