Kai Havertz scores as Arsenal beat Kairat to finish Champions League group top

Arsenal beat FC Kairat to finish top of their Champions League group after an eighth successive victory in the league phase, with Kai Havertz scoring on his first start for almost a year. The win made Mikel Arteta’s side the first team to end the league phase with a 100% record since the format was introduced last season; only a consolation goal in injury time denied them the distinction of winning every game by a two-goal margin.

Viktor Gyökeres opened inside two minutes after a brilliant through-ball from Havertz, but Kairat levelled from the spot after Riccardo Calafiori was adjudged to have tugged Jorginho’s shirt. Havertz then produced a brilliant individual goal, and he also set up Gyökeres and Gabriel Martinelli, Martinelli’s finish recorded as his sixth goal of this season’s competition.

Kairat scored a late Ricardinho header. Arteta made 11 changes from the defeat to Manchester United, deploying Havertz in an advanced midfield role before withdrawing him at half-time for Martin Ødegaard. Jesus replaced Gyökeres late on and had a goal disallowed for offside, and Arteta said: “He’s going to give us so much.

The team knows how important Kai is for us and how he can help take the team to a different level.

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