Madueke and Gyökeres earn Arsenal a 2-1 win at Slavia Praha
Two first-half goals settled it in Prague before Wiktor Nowak struck in the 90th minute, extending Arsenal's unbeaten run against Slavia Praha to four meetings.
By Harvey Watkins,
Arsenal won 2-1 at the Fortuna Arena on Wednesday night. Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres scored in the first half, and Wiktor Nowak pulled one back for Slavia Praha in the 90th minute. The match fell exactly a year to the day after Arsenal's previous visit to Prague. It also extended a record against Slavia that now reads three wins and a draw from the four most recent meetings.
Two goals before the break
Arsenal took the lead early. Madueke scored after nine minutes, and Gyökeres doubled the advantage in the 38th minute. That left Slavia Praha two goals behind at half-time.
Against this opponent, a two-goal deficit looked a heavy one. In the three previous meetings, Slavia had scored only once, in a 1-1 draw in London in April 2021. A side that had not found the net in its two most recent home games against Arsenal needed two goals just to draw level.
A late goal for Slavia
The second half stayed goalless until the 90th minute, when Nowak scored for Slavia Praha. His goal changed the margin but not the outcome, and it came too late to set up a finish of any length.
It still carried some significance. Nowak's goal was Slavia's first against Arsenal in Prague across the four most recent meetings. Their two previous home matches against Arsenal had ended in defeats by four goals and three goals, with nothing scored in either.
How it compares with recent meetings
- 4 Nov 2026: Slavia Praha 1-2 Arsenal
- 4 Nov 2025: Slavia Praha 0-3 Arsenal
- 15 Apr 2021: Slavia Praha 0-4 Arsenal
- 8 Apr 2021: Arsenal 1-1 Slavia Praha
On those numbers, this was the narrowest of Arsenal's three wins in Prague. It is tempting to read that as Slavia closing the gap, but the evidence for that is slim. The difference between this result and last year's 3-0 comes down to one goal scored in the final minute, with the match already settled. A scoreline cannot tell you how the long goalless stretch of the second half was played, and it would be a stretch to build a trend on it.
What the record does show clearly is Arsenal's consistency in this fixture. In their three visits to Prague, they have scored nine times and conceded once. Across all four meetings, the aggregate stands at 10-2 in Arsenal's favour.
The verdict
Arsenal did their scoring early and did not concede until the game was effectively over. Slavia Praha leave with a goal that ended a scoreless run at home against Arsenal, but no points from Matchday 4. Arsenal take all three, and their record against Slavia remains unbeaten.