Mikel Arteta made three changes to the Arsenal team from the weekend. Ben White, Kai Havertz and Jakub Kiwior all come into the side to add some real height into this battle.
Takehiro Tomiyasu has not been passed fit to start the game and missed out entirely. Meanwhile, the other two players moving on to the bench are Leandro Trossard and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
It was a performance of two faces by Arsenal on a night when they absolutely needed to win; dropping points at relegation-threatened Luton is not a part of a championship portfolio.
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Arsenal twice went ahead, through Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus but Rob Edwards’ men clawed their way back level and even took a shock lead around the hour mark through Ross Barkley.
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Jesus’ bizarre record of never losing a Premier League game in which he has scored remains intact – it is still the most games a player has scored in the league’s history without ever losing one.
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You can argue that two of the three Luton goals came as a result of yet more mistakes by Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya. The first came from a corner, where Raya failed to meet the ball mid-air, allowing Elijah Adebayo to rise highest and head it into the net. The second blunder saw Raya nutmegged by Barkley’s weak foot, which gave the home side the lead.
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Importantly for Arteta, Kai Havertz appears to have found his goal-scoring boots as he has now scored three goals in his last four appearances, as many as managed in his previous 32 games.
And yet Arsenal’s attacking prowess would see them edge home at the very death – 23 seconds after the six additional minutes had been played.
It was Martin Ødegaard who whipped over the cross as Arsenal recycled a move with astonishing patience and there was Declan Rice to flick his header into the far corner. Arsenal’s celebrations were wild. Raya’s relief ran in a similar vein
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Declan Rice’s winner at 96:23 was Arsenal’s latest winning goal on record (since 2006-07) in a Premier League away game. It also ended a 10-game winless run away against Luton in all competitions, earning their first Kenilworth Road victory since 1984.
Arsenal had 52 touches in the opposition box against Luton this evening, their highest tally in a Premier League away game since September 2016 (55 vs Hull City).