The Gunner’s opening game of the Champions League campaign saw them visit the Estadia de San Mames in the beautiful Basque country.

After early possession from the Gunner’s, the home team were the ones who created the bigger chances in the early stages. The first major chance came in just the 6^th minute as Mikel Jauregizar got fouled on the edge of Arsenal box. Unfortunately, they couldn’t take their opportunity as Adama Boiro’s freekick was blocked.

Neither team could break the deadlock before half time. Chances began falling for Arsenal in the early moments of the second half as they began to get a hold on the game. Opportunities fell for Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres, but Bilbao’s defence stayed resilient.

In the 70^th minute, Eberechi Eze’s champions League debut came to an end as Gabriel Martinelli replaced him. Moments later, the Brazilian found himself through on goal after a flick from Leandro Trossard and placed it past Unai Simon into the bottom right corner to give the Gunners the lead.

Arsenal finished the job in the 87^th minute due to magic from the substitutes once again. Dynamic dribbling from Martinelli allowed him to beat his fullback and cut it back for the Belgium Trossard whose deflected shot beat Simon.

Drowned in sound, red in crowd, Arsenal push aside Athletic Club in the first round. The victory wasn’t straight forward for Arteta’s men but the substitutions worked brilliantly tonight and the three points is the right direction to the final destination of Budapest.