Mikel Arteta’s star boy has come in for some mild criticism of late but he responded in fine fashion on Wednesday evening

Bukayo Saka is back, baby! After a quiet spell by his own impeccable standards – he failed to score or assist in each of Arsenal’s last three games – the winger led the Gunners to a comfortable 2-0 Champions League victory over a terrible Sevilla side on Wednesday night.

The Spanish strugglers were physical from the outset, bombarding their opposing forwards with a string of niggly fouls, but that did not prevent Jorginho carving them open in the first half. The midfielder’s sumptuous pass found the marauding Saka, who played it back into the path of Leandro Trossard to tap home.

The 22-year-old then went into business for himself just after the hour, sending Adria Pedrosa for a hot dog in the box before rolling the ball into the far corner. After that, the result was never in doubt, with the bad news of the evening coming when Saka limped off just before the end after landing awkwardly. Thankfully for Arteta, it did not look too bad.

Such was the Gunners’ dominance, Sevilla did not even muster a shot on goal until second-half stoppage time. Thanks to PSV beating Lens, the Gunners’ progression to the knockout stages is not quite confirmed – but it would take a series of unmitigated disasters for them to slip up from here.

GOAL rates Arsenal’s players from the Emirates Stadium…

Goalkeeper & Defence

David Raya (6/10):

Managed to avoid any further controversy, though that had a lot to do with Sevilla failing to muster a shot on goal.

Ben White (7/10):

Very easy night defensively. Bent one effort over the bar in the opening period.

William Saliba (8/10):

So solid. Made one outstanding tackle in the first half that earned him a stadium-wide rendition of his tequila-inspired terrace chant.

Gabriel (7/10):

Not as impressive as his centre-back partner in his defending and distribution, but still eminently comfortable.

Takehiro Tomiyasu (6/10):

Played the inverted full-back role pretty effectively before being hooked at the break.

Midfield

Kai Havertz (5/10):

Missed a sitter inside the first minute which set the tone for a pretty terrible first half. Improved after the break somewhat, but performance will have done little to silence his critics.

Jorginho (7/10):

His line-splitting through ball helped create Trossard’s opener. Generally very tidy performance.

Declan Rice (6/10):

Asked to play in a more-advanced position again in the absence of Martin Odegaard. He did okay, though lacked guile – so don’t expect the role change to be permanent.

Attack

Bukayo Saka (8/10):

Sevilla tried to kick him out of the game but he responded with a pinpoint assist and a goal. Limped off at the end, but he should be okay.

Leandro Trossard (7/10):

Took his chance well and helped knit things together in the final third. Likely ahead of Eddie Nketiah in the pecking order now.

Gabriel Martinelli (8/10):

Sevilla couldn’t live with him in the first half. Got his reward after the break when he assisted Saka’s goal.

Subs & Manager

Oleksandr Zinchenko (7/10):

Did a bit more than Tomiyasu on the ball and nearly scored a fine volley.

Reiss Nelson (6/10):

A lively cameo.

Fabio Vieira (6/10):

Only got 10 minutes, which was a bit odd considering Havertz wasn’t exactly impressing.

Jakub Kiwior (N/A):

Helped see out the game.

Mohamed Elneny (N/A):

Nice for him to get some rare minutes.

Mikel Arteta (7/10):

Sevilla came to disrupt and frustrate, and opting to continue with Jorginho proved to be an inspired choice as the Italian unlocked the stubborn away defence. From there, it was plain sailing. Arteta perhaps could’ve saved some legs by making earlier subs, but the bench was rather weak due to injury.