Express & Star

Arsenal hit seven in thumping Champions League win away to PSV Eindhoven

Aston Villa and Real Madrid also hold first-leg leads.

By contributor PA Sport Staff
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Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori (right) celebrates scoring with Declan Rice
Arsenal celebrated a thumping win over PSV Eindhoven (Peter Lous/PA).

Arsenal and Aston Villa both put one foot into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with big wins on the road on Tuesday night.

Arsenal recorded their biggest away win in the Champions League as they crushed Feyenoord 7-1 at the Philips Stadion.

Justin Timber opened the scoring in the 18th minute and it was 3-0 with half-an-hour gone as 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri and Mikel Merino joined in.

PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal – UEFA Champions League – Round of 16 – First Leg – Philips Stadion
Martin Odegaard scored twice for the Gunners (Peter Lous/PA)

Although Noa Lang got one back from the penalty spot, Arsenal piled on the misery in the second half with Martin Odegaard scoring twice and Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori also on the score sheet.

Two late goals put Villa in charge of their tie against Club Brugge as they came away from Belgium with a 3-1 advantage.

Leon Bailey had fired Unai Emery’s side in front after only 135 seconds with a fine strike, but the hosts levelled through Maxim De Cuyper in the 12th minute.

Club Brugge v Aston Villa – UEFA Champions League – Round of 16 – First Leg – Jan Breydel Stadium
Two late goals put Aston Villa in control against Club Brugge (PA via Belga)

As it was beginning to look like it would end all square, Brandon Mechele put the ball through his own net in the 82nd minute before Christos Tzolis fouled Matty Cash and Marco Asensio converted the late penalty to give Villa a significant advantage.

Real Madrid hold a slight edge over rivals Atletico after Brahim Diaz’s second-half strike gave them a 2-1 win at the Bernabeu.

Rodrygo’s curling strike put the hosts ahead just four minutes in before an outstanding effort from Julian Alvarez brought Atletico level just after the half-hour mark.

Spain Soccer Champions League
Brahim Diaz, right, celebrates with Carlo Ancelotti after scoring what proved to be the winner against rivals Atletico (Manu Fernandez/AP)

But it was another Manchester City old boy who proved the winner as Diaz struck a low left-footed shot 10 minutes into the second half.

Borussia Dortmund were left frustrated as the first leg of their tie with Lille ended in a 1-1 draw.

Karim Adeyemi took advantage of space on the edge of the box to fire the hosts in front in the 22nd minute and they thought they had a second just before half-time, but Pascal Gross’ header was ruled offside.

The hosts failed to take advantage of further chances before Lille equalised with their first shot on target in the 68th minute, with Hakon Haraldsson off-balance when he turned in Jonathan David’s pass.