Arteta lauds Arsenal’s Havertz, Haaland nets 42nd Champions League goal

Twelve months ago Kai Havertz looked like a spare part at Arsenal after his big-money move across town from Chelsea but now the German forward is fully justifying his £65m (R1.5bn) fee with a sensational start to the season.

The 25-year-old put Arsenal on the path to a 2-0 home win against Paris St-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday with a well-timed run and header in the 20th minute.

After taking 10 games to get off the mark for Arsenal last season, it was his fifth goal for the club in the current campaign and he deservedly picked up the man of the match award.

“He has been unbelievable. His football brain, the way he understands space, his timing, he brings people together,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who showed great faith in Havertz even when he was struggling last season, said.

“His work ethic is incredible and now he is a real threat around the box. He is one of our main players at the moment.”

It was a satisfying night for Arteta whose Arsenal dominated one of Europe’s heavyweights in the first half and then comfortably contained them after the break.

“Really, really happy with the performance. We played an opponent that has a lot of personality, is really difficult to deal with when you don’t have the ball,” he said.

“The first half was very dominant and we created a lot of chances and then the second half was a different story.

“We suffered much more than we should have done. The Champions League brings different demands but I think we handled it really well.”

Victory, after the 0-0 draw away to Atalanta, propelled Arsenal to eighth in the 36-team table and Arteta said it was far too early to start predicting how many more wins his side will need to qualify automatically for the last 16.

“I’m not even looking at the table,” he said. “But I think it will be a long journey.”

Another boost for Arsenal was the sight of new signing Mikel Merino coming off the bench for his first appearance in the second half after missing the start of the season with injury.

On the down side, fullback Jurrien Timber was forced off at halftime with a muscle issue.

First-half goals by Havertz and Bukayo Saka helped the Gunners seal victory.

Havertz headed his side in front after 20 minutes from Leandro Trossard’s teasing cross and Saka put Arsenal in complete control 15 minutes later when his free kick somehow found its way into the net.

PSG, who won their opening game against Girona, struck the woodwork in each half.

Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland and James McAtee got on the scoresheet as Manchester City thrashed Slovan Bratislava 4-0 for their first victory of their Champions League campaign.

The Premier League champions parked themselves in Slovan’s half and peppered the home side with shots all night, with Gundogan getting City on the scoreboard in the eighth minute with his first goal since his return from a season spent at Barcelona. The German’s shot from edge of the penalty area deflected off the leg of Kyriakos Savvidis and in.

Foden doubled City’s lead with his first goal of the season in the 15th, latching onto a pass from Jeremy Doku and curling a strike into the bottom corner. Haaland netted his 42nd goal in Europe’s top competition in the 58th minute, sprinting onto Rico Lewis’s pass then stepping around keeper Dominik Takac before slotting into the empty net.

Foden chipped a pass to McAtee for his first ever City goal in the 74th minute.

City, winners of the 2023 Champions League, had opened this season’s campaign with a 0-0 draw with Inter Milan, while Slovan suffered a 5-1 defeat to Celtic.

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored twice to set his side on course for a 5-0 thrashing of Swiss side Young Boys as the Catalan giants bounced back from a 2-1 loss at AS Monaco in their opener.

Lewandowski gave the hosts the lead in the eighth minute by tapping in a low Raphinha cross after a fine combination between the Brazilian forward and teenage sensation Lamine Yamal.

After squandering some decent chances, a quick-fire double from Raphinha and Inigo Martinez gave Barca a 3-0 lead, with the Brazilian netting a rebound in the 34th and defender Martinez scoring with a towering header less than three minutes later.

Lewandowski got his second and Barca’s fourth in the 51st minute with a header in the six-yard box from a Martinez corner, before defender Mohamed Camara bundled the ball into his own net in the 81st trying to clear an Alejandro Balde cross.

A second-half goal from Victor Boniface was enough to earn Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 home win over AC Milan, giving the German side a perfect start while the Italians are still without a point.

The only goal came six minutes after the break when Boniface fired home a rebound after Milan keeper Mike Maignan had parried a shot from Jeremie Frimpong.

Karim Adeyemi scored a first-half hat-trick as last season’s losing finalists Borussia Dortmund hammered Celtic 7-1 at Iduna Park in Dortmund, with five goals in the opening 42 minutes.