Arsenal took a while to find a breakthrough against Lille, but the 3-0 win was a fair reflection of the team’s dominance on the night.

Jurrien Timber’s delightful opener midway through the second half precipitated an avalanche of goals in the space of 7 minutes.

Eberechi Eze bagged the second, which would have been a huge boost for this confidence, while Bukayo Saka silenced his critics by sealing the win, having already set up Eze.

Press the next page as we give our Arsenal player ratings for the victory over Lille on Tuesday evening…

Goalkeeper and Defence

GK – David Raya – 5/10 – had one dodgy moment in the first half when he dropped the ball straight to an opponent, but it was a very quiet night other than that.

RB – Jurrien Timber – 9/10 – the Dutchman was outstanding. He had already set up two chances for Bruno Guimaraes and Mikel Merino before taking his goal expertly, with an excellent touch and chipped finish.

CB – Ezri Konsa – 7/10 –  a strong display from the summer signing, winning his duels and showing good recovery pace when required.

CB – Gabriel – 7/10 – the Brazilian was tasked with marshalling the offside trap, and the ploy worked.

LB – Myles Lewis-Skelly – 7/10 – had to get used to playing left-back again in the early stages, but he grew into the game and used possession well.

Midfield

CM – Bruno Guimaraes – 7/10 – kept things ticking over in midfield with his incisive passing. He will, however, be disappointed with the chance he missed in the first half after being set up by Timber.

CM – Declan Rice – 7/10 – the 27-year-old was excellent with his passing, and it looks like he is beginning to build up an understanding with Guimaraes.

Mikel Arteta’s decision not to rest Rice may also suggest that the player is now fully recovered from the hamstring issue that has been troubling him for some time.

AM – Mikel Merino – 4/10 – The Spaniard had a pretty poor game. As well as picking up a booking, he fluffed his lines in front of goal on two separate occasions.

Forwards

RW – Noni Madueke – 6/10 – the winger always looks lively, but more often than not he is very wasteful. Against Lille, it looked to be more of the same, before he set up Timber for the opener with a great pass.

ST – Viktor Gyokeres – 4/10 – the service to him wasn’t great, but the Swedish international has to do better than this.

The fact that Kai Havertz set up a goal immediately after replacing Gyokeres demonstrated once again why Arteta is starting the German and keeping the 28-year-old on the bench for most games.

LW – Eberechi Eze – 7/10 – for the first hour of the game, the England international was poor. However, after being set up by Saka for his goal, his confidence came flooding back, and it was a positive last 20 minutes before Dowman replaced him.

Substitutes

Bukayo Saka – 9/10 – within minutes of his introduction from the bench, he had provided an assist and scored a goal of his own.

Kai Havertz – 7/10 – the German’s delightful cutback led to Saka making it 3-0.

Martin Odegaard – 7/10 – the captain’s ability to link up play was sorely missed, and his introduction to proceedings instantly added my guile in the final third.

Ben White – 6/10 – the fullback did his job by seeing out the game and helping to keep a clean sheet.

Max Dowman – N/A – came on for Eze with 5 minutes left, and he didn’t have enough time to make an impression, despite looking bright.