Without going deep into the history, suffice it to say that we are all fans of a club that, occasionally, does not perform against lesser teams in Europe the way that we all wish they would. Well, today was for you, foes of underperformance!
Ludogorets actually didn’t look like a horrible team at times in the first half - they kept possession pretty well, they moved the ball around pretty tidily, and there were a couple moments where it looked like they might get back into it, but...nope.
Arsenal opened up the lead 12 minutes in with quite a bang; Alexis Sanchez escaped beyond the offside trap up the left, and as the Ludogorets defenders caught up to him, he cut inside and curled a chip over the keeper into the far corner. The opposition tried to counter this opener, and nearly did a couple of times as the first half wore on, but Arsenal had their chances too, and 42 minutes in, Theo Walcott, with all the time in the world from 20 yards, smashed home.
The second half was all Arsenal. It only took 60 seconds for Arsenal to kick the door in again, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain bashing home a low cross. Ludogorets were fading into the evening at this point, and it was time for the score to get rung the heck up.
Enter Mesut Özil (okay, he never wasn’t there, he assisted the third goal, but, you, shut up). Goal no. 1 saw him run onto a ball over the top and slot home from Santi Cazorla after Laurent Koscielny snuffed out the opposition’s one good chance of the half. Goal no. 2 came after substitute Lucas Perez raced away up the left and crossed low perfectly for the German to poke home. Goal no. 3 was the same pairing, only this time, Mesut was first-timing a Lucas flipped cross from the right.
Arsenal haven’t score six for a long time, and the last time they handed out a beating this bad in Europe was against Slavia Prague in 2007. They are now atop the Group A standings after three matches on goal difference, +3 up on Paris Saint-Germain.