Jesus, Zinchenko are playing for their futures at Arsenal

As the Gunners eased their way past AS Monaco 3-0 at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League, it was tempting to conclude that Mikel Arteta's side are close to leaving both behind.

Part of that is the individual regression both Jesus and Zinchenko have seemingly suffered but also the establishment of a fresh pedigree in Europe's biggest competitions led by others -- most obviously on a night like this, Bukayo Saka.

Saka's brace settled a contest that felt in the balance for much longer than it should have, not least because of Jesus' first-half profligacy. Twice he raced through on goal, twice his effort lacked conviction and Monaco goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki saved. The flip side is Jesus deserves credit for laying on Saka's opening 34th-minute goal with a clever run and cross which the England international steered home at the back post but he left the field on 73 minutes without a goal to his name, extending a frankly dismal record to just one from his last 32 matches.

Jesus and Zinchenko possess a wealth of experience in this competition but his replacement here was Kai Havertz, a 2021 Champions League winner with Chelsea and whose impact was keenly felt: the German's high press forced an error which Saka capitalised on for Arsenal's second before Thilo Kehrer, again under pressure from Havertz, turned the ball into his own net from Saka's cross.

And so, where players like Jesus and Zinchenko -- injured once again here -- would have been expected to help navigate the emotional complexities of a challenging night against smart European opposition, Jesus instead resembled more of a passenger as Saka came to the fore.

"He keeps surprising us," said Arteta of Saka.

"That's what he wants to do. That's the quality that he has, that's the ambition that he has and how he's preparing himself every day. I'm not surprised, but it's very difficult to do what he's doing.

"That has been an evolution. He wasn't able to do that at 17, 18 or 19. But he has developed in the right way, mentally, physically, his condition, and his preparation, now he has got the habit of playing every three days and he is consistently doing that at the highest level.

"He will continue to do that and for the youngest players, for the old ones, and for all of us he is a great example because of how he behaves daily and because of what he wants to do, which is to have his best version every day, and continue to improve and that's it."