After Monday’s battling 1-1 draw at Manchester United, Unai Emery unsurprisingly rang the changes and there was a warm reception for Hector Bellerin who was named as captain for the first time as he works his way back from a knee injury.
Rob Holding also featured in the back four but it was those in front of them who made the early headlines and it took the Gunners just 13 minutes to open the scoring.
Summer arrival Kieran Tierney burst down the left before firing in a ball towards the near post and there was 18-year-old Gabriel Martinelli to nod home a stooping header.
Martinelli doubled his tally three minutes later, smartly controlling Reiss Nelson’s delivery before curling in for 2-0 and becoming the youngest player in the club’s history to net a European brace.
Arsenal were rampant and it was 3-0 on 21 minutes when Joe Willock found space after Nelson’s effort was blocked by Zinho Vanheusden and finished with ease.
Emery’s men were not letting up but Standard did slowly find their feet, with Paul-Jose M’Poku screwing an effort wide.
Martinelli went close to notching a hat-trick just before the hour but it was eventually 4-0 when the Brazilian chipped the ball goalwards and Dani Ceballos prodded home.
The home crowd were hoping for a hat-trick but it wasn’t to be, with the youngster almost completing the job when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang centred, only to be nudged out of the way by Nicolas Pepe.
In the end, 4-0 was a satisfactory result for the Gunners who will now turn their attention to Bournemouth’s visit on Sunday.
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Arsenal 4-0 Standard Liege
After Monday’s battling 1-1 draw at Manchester United, Unai Emery unsurprisingly rang the changes and there was a warm reception for Hector Bellerin who was named as captain for the first time as he works his way back from a knee injury.
Rob Holding also featured in the back four but it was those in front of them who made the early headlines and it took the Gunners just 13 minutes to open the scoring.
Summer arrival Kieran Tierney burst down the left before firing in a ball towards the near post and there was 18-year-old Gabriel Martinelli to nod home a stooping header.
Martinelli doubled his tally three minutes later, smartly controlling Reiss Nelson’s delivery before curling in for 2-0 and becoming the youngest player in the club’s history to net a European brace.
Arsenal were rampant and it was 3-0 on 21 minutes when Joe Willock found space after Nelson’s effort was blocked by Zinho Vanheusden and finished with ease.
Emery’s men were not letting up but Standard did slowly find their feet, with Paul-Jose M’Poku screwing an effort wide.
Martinelli went close to notching a hat-trick just before the hour but it was eventually 4-0 when the Brazilian chipped the ball goalwards and Dani Ceballos prodded home.
The home crowd were hoping for a hat-trick but it wasn’t to be, with the youngster almost completing the job when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang centred, only to be nudged out of the way by Nicolas Pepe.
In the end, 4-0 was a satisfactory result for the Gunners who will now turn their attention to Bournemouth’s visit on Sunday.