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Fans love to discuss invincibility in this part of North London, and it's still the only way to describe Mikel Arteta's record with Arsenal in continental group phase matches at the home ground. It is now, eight wins out of eight in the Champions League with no goals allowed. If you want to include the Europa League from the start of his reign, it's 14 wins out of 14 with just two let in.

The Greek side had arrived with a remarkable record of their making. They had won on their past three trips to the Emirates, the latest two coming in the elimination phase of the tournament, although the second in the 2020-21 season did not stop an aggregate exit.

No one expected anything other than another home success, the latest show of the team's strength and squad quality even with this being a decent Olympiakos vintage. It was nervier than the home crowd would have liked in the closing stages, the visitors pushing and making for a few scares.

But Arteta's squad is difficult to breached. It's into the month and still they have conceded just three strikes in every match – only one of them in regular play. Gabriel Martinelli found the net for them in the 12th minute with the English winger, on as a substitute, receiving a ball from the excellent captain to make things safe in added time. Arsenal continue their run.

Looking Back

The club had to go back to late 2019 for the previous time they had not won a group match at their stadium in European competition; a defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in the tournament which resulted in the sacking of Unai Emery, the caretaker stint of Freddie Ljungberg and the appointment of Arteta, whose first European assignment would be against the Greeks in the round of 32. It concluded in a dramatic extra-time defeat here and an elimination on away goals.

Observers noted numerous noteworthy lines around this encounter, several related to history. The last time Arsenal before let in a goal in a European group stage match on home soil? It was against Rapid Vienna in the 4-1 Europa League win in December 2020.

Lineup Changes

The manager made changes to his lineup – six alterations from the weekend win at St James' Park – as he was expected to do. With the ability to bring back stars of the quality of the defender and Ødegaard, it said plenty.

The skipper was in the mood at the start, bringing the urgency on the ball; the incision. The leader sparked an early move that ended with Martinelli somehow heading the youngster's cross off target while alone in front of goal. It appeared to deflect off his shoulder.

No matter. It was soon before Arsenal took the lead and it was Martinelli with the tap-in from a tight angle after Viktor Gyökeres saw the shot-stopper, the Olympiakos keeper, push his effort against the post. Ødegaard had played the assist to the attacker and it was all about the striker's power; he barged in between two Olympiakos backs to create the chance.

Key Moments

He was on his less favoured right flank; the Belgian on the left. The winger only had to passed to his teammate on the 21st minute when they broke with two against one. Rather, he tried to outrun the final defender and could not pass him.

The home side should have had additional goals before the interval. Gyökeres ignored a simple ball for his teammate after Ødegaard's through-ball and fired at the keeper while Gabriel Magalhães went close following his corner. The forward blazed another chance high after a lovely ball from the winger.

The visitors, to their credit, came to play. Their striker looped a header too close to David Raya just before the scorer opened the scoring and their big chance of the first half came in the 32nd minute when Daniel Podence caught a volley sweetly from his teammate's cross. Raya pushed it over; an outstanding reflex save.

The club owner, the Greek club proprietor, was back in the seats a few weeks after watching one of his other clubs, Nottingham Forest, lose 3-0 here. In the away enclosure, the away diehards played their instruments and chanted their anthems. They are considered one of Europe's most dedicated supporters for obvious reasons. Would the team provide something?

Second Half

The coach brought on Declan Rice for his counterpart as he aimed to control the remainder. The plan appeared to be containment; they changed down through the gears. The attacker blew a couple of chances but there was nervousness in the home seats; shouts for the team to focus as they survived a threat in the middle of the period. Podence's cross was perfect for El Kaabi, whose header was stopped by Raya. The striker tapped in the rebound but he was offside.

Arteta brought on the substitute and Eberechi Eze while he was obliged to change the centre-back for the young defender. The captain ought to have scored from close range only to be denied by the keeper and Olympiakos held onto belief. The England international would extinguish it at the final moment.