"R9", "What a guy" - Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice hail Arsenal star on social media after their 3-0 win against Slavia Praha

Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice hailed their Arsenal teammate Mikel Merino after their 3-0 win over Slavia Praha. The two sides faced off at the Fortuna Arena in Prague in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, November 4.

Bukayo Saka opened the scoring in the 32nd minute via a penalty after Lukas Provod was deemed to have handled the ball in the box. Mikel Merino doubled their scoring in the 46th minute before adding another in the 68th minute. It maintained the Gunners' perfect run in the Champions League this season after four games.

Mikel Merino started as a striker, with Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz both out injured. He completed 22/30 passes, made one key pass, won 7/17 duels, and made three interceptions and three recoveries (via SofaScore).

After the game, the Spaniard shared a carousel post on Instagram with the caption:

"@championsleague nights ✌🏽 ⛳️⛳️"

Merino's Arsenal teammates commented on it, heaping praise on him. Gabriel Martinelli wrote:

"R9"

Declan Rice commented:

"What a guy"

David Raya wrote:

"Merigol"

Declan Rice, David Raya & Gabriel Martinelli's comments (Image Source: Instagram/@mikelmerino)

Merino has scored three goals in 15 games across competitions this season. Since arriving from Real Sociedad in 2024, he's scored 12 goals and provided five assists in 59 games for Arsenal.

---

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta assesses their win over Slavia Praha

The Gunners' 3-0 win over Slavia Praha marked their 10th consecutive win across competitions. They also haven't conceded a single goal in their last eight matches. They sit second in the UEFA Champions League standings, only behind Bayern Munich on goals scored.

After the game, Mikel Arteta shared his thoughts, saying (h/t Arsenal.com):

"I'm really happy with the win, four in a row without conceding a goal. A really tough place to come, I told the boys, the game that we had to expect, a team that is super intense, very direct, man-to-man, so very short sequences of play, a lot of fouls, a lot of restarts, very difficult to get any fluency in the match. "But if we were patient and emotionally controlled, we were going to have our chances and the way they set up, and we did that. I think the margin at the end looked comfortable, but I don't think it was a comfortable match at all."

Arsenal also sit atop the Premier League table, six points above Manchester City. They will next face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, November 8.

Edited by Aditya Singh