Molde 0-3 Arsenal: Nicolas Pepe Shines as Gunners Progress

Three second-half goals were enough to seal Arsenal’s progression to the Europa League knockout stages with a second-half blitz seeing them past Molde.

Nicolas Pepe and Reiss Nelson were on target inside the first ten minutes of the second half with youngster Florin Balogun rounding out the scoring with a neatly taken finish.

Arsenal started the match on the front foot with Reiss Nelson looking lively as always. Alexandre Lacazette looked to be playing in the number 10 role and had free roam in the first half as the Gunners were pushing the issue.

Both sides created chances with Molde having the most clear-cut chance in the first half when Magnus Eikram crossed for Sheriff Sinyan at the back post however Alex Runarsson saved the guilt-edged chance to keep the scores level.

The majority of the first half was reasonably uneventful with Arsenal creating more chances, however, Molde had the best chance of the half. Reiss Nelson and Nicolas Pepe were standouts in the first half as Arsenal went into the break all square.

David Luiz was replaced by Rob Holding at half time and Arsenal came out a different beast. Constantly on the front foot and pinning Molde back. It took Nicolas Pepe just two minutes to rattle the crossbar then two minutes later he has his goal.

A neat curling finish beyond the Molde keeper put an exclamation point on Pepe’s performance as he toyed with the Molde defence at times.

Five minutes later Arsenal doubled their lead. Superb build-up play led to a low driven cross by Joe Willock who found Reiss Nelson in the centre of the box as the Gunners were running rampant. Eddie Nketiah had a glorious chance to make it three minutes later after great work again from Nicolas Pepe as the Ivorian found him with a neat pass, however, his header went wide.

After Arsenal’s second goal the game become a lot more open with Molde now having to force the issue with the Gunners looking threatening every time they went forward.

Arsenal was reasonably comfortable with everything Molde threw at them and put the game to bed in the 83rd minute. An Emile Smith Rowe cross found Florin Balogun in the box and the young Englishman turned and rifled his shot past the keeper with his first touch of the ball after another sweeping move for the Gunners.

Arsenal was able to see out the game comfortably and secure the three points that seals their progress to the knockout stages with two games remaining.

Nicolas Pepe had a standout game as he looked like he was playing with something to prove and got a well-deserved goal. Reiss Nelson was again one of the driving forces for Arsenal in what was a routine win in the end.

Four wins from four as Arsenal maintain their 100% record in the competition. The Gunners welcome Wolves to the Emirates next in the Premier League as they will look to build on this result.