Topics: Arsenal, Champions League, Football, Mikel Arteta
Arsenal have been denied an incredible piece of Champions League history despite their 3-2 win over Azeri side Kairat Almaty.
Mikel Arteta's side headed into the match at the Emirates Stadium knowing that a point would be enough to top the group stage.
They were up against a side who had picked up only a point across their seven league matches - admittedly with a much smaller playing budget than the vast majority of other Champions League sides.
But Arsenal still needed to get the job done, and got their night off to the perfect start through Viktor Gyokeres' third-minute goal.
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Portuguese forward Jorginho then levelled for Kairat from the penalty spot on eight minutes, before Kai Havertz restored Arsenal's advantage.
The Gunners then went 3-1 up on 36 minutes, with Gabriel Martinelli scoring his sixth Champions League goal of the season.
Since the new Champions League format was introduced for last season, Arsenal are now the only team to end the group stage with a perfect record of eight wins from eight matches.
They could have made a second piece of history - but were narrowly denied.
Ricardinho scored an 93rd-minute consolation goal for Kairat to make it 3-2, with Arsenal having had a goal by Gabriel Jesus disallowed for offside on 88 minutes.
Victory by the required scoreline against Kairat would have made Arsenal (as per Flashscore) the only side in the history of European football to win eight consecutive matches by two or more goals.
The run started with a 2-0 away win at Athletic Bilbao to kick off their campaign, and included victories over Atletico Madrid (4-0 home), Bayern Munich (3-1 home) and Inter Milan (3-1 away).
Their perfect record going into Tuesday meant that Arsenal had already automatically qualified for the knockout stages with a round to spare.
But they were unable to secure a remarkable piece of history by just two minutes of football.
The Champions League has been something of a distraction from the Gunners' recent form, with Arteta's side having not won any of their last three Premier League matches.
They suffered a 3-2 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday but are still five points clear at the top of the table, and will hope to launch an assault on their first league title since 2004 during the second half of the season.
