Arsenal beat Zurich on Eddie Nketiah winner to open Europa League play

Posted Friday, September 09, 2022 by ESPN

Arsenal beat Zurich on Eddie Nketiah winner to open Europa League play
Eddie Nketiah celebrates after scoring a goal for Arsenal against Zurich in the Europa League. Getty Images

Eddie Nketiah's second-half winner gave Arsenal a 2-1 victory over FC Zurich to begin their 2022-23 Europa League Group A campaign on Thursday night.

Marquinhos, the 19-year-old who arrived at Arsenal from Sao Paulo this summer, opened the scoring on his debut for the visiting Gunners in the 16th minute, but Mirlind Kryeziu equalised for Zurich from the penalty spot just before half-time with the teams going to the break tied 1-1.

At half-time, news broke that Queen Elizabeth II had died at the age of 96 and both teams observed a moment of silence before resuming play.

A reshuffled Gunners side took an early lead when Nketiah sent the ball across for Marquinhos, who fired into the top corner at the end of a swift counter-attack.

The Londoners continued to dominate the opening half, but the hosts weathered the storm and levelled on the stroke of half-time, Kryeziu coolly converting a penalty after Nketiah brought down Fidan Aliti.

Nketiah made amends with a headed winner from Marquinhos' cross after the hour mark and Mikel Arteta's side saw out the result to earn three points and top spot in their group.