David Moses, Emmanuel Ayaosi and Mubarak Suleiman all started for Slavia Prague as the Czech side lost 2–1 to Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday despite a second-half fightback at the Fortuna Arena, Bold sports reports.
Noni Madueke opened the scoring in the ninth minute and Viktor Gyökeres doubled Arsenal’s advantage in the 38th. Wiktor Nowak pulled a goal back in the 90th minute, but Slavia could not find an equaliser.
Suleiman was replaced at half-time, while Ayaosi played until the 71st minute. Moses, who received a yellow card in the 20th minute, came off in the 81st. Fellow Nigerian Samuel Isife missed the match through a fitness problem, which Slavia had confirmed before kick-off.
The hosts struggled to contain Arsenal during the opening period. Gyökeres supplied Madueke for the first goal, with the winger finishing after a through ball into the right side of the penalty area.
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Arsenal continued to create chances and extended their lead through Gyökeres before the break. Slavia managed only one first-half attempt, leaving them with a considerable task against last season’s Champions League runners-up.
The home side’s response after the interval changed the contest. Slavia registered 17 second-half shots and forced Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya into several saves as they pushed to get back into the game.
Ayaosi had an effort early in the second half before making way for David Jurásek with 19 minutes of regulation time remaining. Suleiman’s replacement, Mojmír Chytil, had entered at the interval, while Štěpán Chaloupek later took over from Moses.
Arsenal needed a goal-line clearance from Gabriel Magalhães to preserve their advantage. Raya also pushed an Oskar Kubiak header against the post shortly before Slavia finally scored.
Jurásek delivered the cross for Nowak to finish from close range in the 90th minute. The late strike gave Slavia hope of salvaging a point, but Arsenal protected their narrow lead through the closing stages.
The defeat leaves Slavia with one point from four league-phase matches. They had lost 3–2 at home to Lens and 2–0 away to Sabah before recovering from two goals down to draw 2–2 at Fenerbahçe in their previous European outing.
Wednesday’s result also interrupted the momentum from Slavia’s 5–0 domestic win at Jablonec. Suleiman scored twice in that victory, while Ayaosi scored and supplied an assist, with Moses also helping create a goal.
Arsenal’s third win from four Champions League games lifted them to 10 points. Slavia have four league-phase fixtures remaining as they seek their first victory in this season’s competition.
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