Purring like a Rolls Royce in the Premier League, and now a fjord fiesta in Europe.
Arsenal are on an Arctic roll – nine wins out of 10 games this season, and Liverpool are next up at the Emirates on Sunday. As Eddie Nketiah led a sparkling display, crowned with his 12th goal in his last 15 starts, Mikel Arteta now has the best win ratio (58.26 per cent from 141 games) of any Arsenal manager in the club's history.
And a first clean sheet at home in 10 games since March won't hurt their confidence, either. But if Arsenal's form is nine out of 10, perfectionist Arteta's report card still gave them room for improvement.
He said: “I'm really happy with the clean sheet and the way we attacked the box when we got there, but I'm conscious we can do much better.” Nketiah must be the unluckiest forward in English football - an enviable strike rate but no regular first team place – but Arteta was full of praise, saying: “What do I like about him? When he puts the ball in the back of the net.
“His work rate and attitude are phenomenal, and this is what he does all the time. I’m really happy to have him in the team, he has the qualities to play in this role as a starter and a finisher. It is hard (to leave him out) but today he could have done even more. When you see how he’s evolved in the last two years, there’s more space to do that.”
Bodo is so far north it lies just above the Arctic Circle, and their tiny, 8,300-capacity Aspmyra Stadion will be a real culture shock for the Gunners in next week's return fixture in Norway. Locals brandish giant yellow toothbrushes used as their accessories of choice, but it's nothing to do with their oral hygiene.
One of them used his toothbrush as a baton to conduct the crowd 50 years ago and the fad caught on like wildfire, but nothing was going to remove the floss from Nketiah's performance. At times, Bodo were more open than a smorgasbord here, and the only surprise was that it took Arsenal 23 minutes to open their account.
Kieran Tierney's fierce drive smacked the post, but Nketiah potted the rebound instinctively, making an awkward finish look easy for his fourth goal in as many Europa League games. Four minutes later, Fabio Vieira's cross picked out the unmarked Rob Holding to head only his fourth goal in six years with the Gunners – or two in five months, which is bordering on prolific for him.
Although the Gunners didn't exactly take to their sun loungers after the break, they had to wait until six minutes from time for sub Gabriel Jesus to lead Bodo a merry dance before teeing up Fabio Vieira to lift his finish high and handsome into the roof of the net.
First Patrick, now Fabio. Has anyone ever seen a poor Vieira at the Emirates?
