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EPL Champions League Drama LIVE 3m ago Gabriel celebrates Arsenal's latest shutout Stuart Mac Farlane/Getty Images You know things are in a decent place when the biggest panic in a game is whether or not the opposition will get a free shot at goal. Not a free goal, but a just a free shot on target. This is where Arsenal found themselves, 3-0 up with minutes to play away to Slavia Praha. The referee had just blown for a penalty, and after surviving an onslaught early in the game, the formality of another clean sheet that seemed to be in the bag was now up in the air. Advertisement An overturn of the decision settled down those who travelled from London, and they got the record they wanted as the final whistle blew. Bukayo Saka had scored yet another Champions League goal, while Mikel Merino scored twice in place of Viktor Gyokeres, but the goals were not the focus of the night. Arsenal had kept an eighth consecutive clean sheet for the first time since 1903.   The last goal they conceded was Nick Woltemade’s opener for Newcastle United in a game they dramatically came back to win 2-1, which was 776 in-game minutes ago. In the meantime, they have conceded just nine shots on target in their past seven games, with six of those coming in the Carabao Cup fourth round win over Brighton & Hove Albion. These clean sheets and the lack of shots on target conceded are becoming the standard every three days, so much so that when goalkeeper David Raya gave his shirt to a young fan after the 2-0 win over Burnley on the weekend some on social media joked at how clean it was because of the lack of saves he had to make. Slavia Praha threatened to give the Spain international a busy night with four shots in the first 11 minutes, but none were on target. Raya got decent practice by saving an offside effort at his near post that was not logged as a shot, but his evening mostly concerned keeping up with the ultras’ tifos and chants. That’s not to disrespect the hosts, as the atmosphere created by the ultras was before kick-off allowed them to catch Arsenal off-guard in those early exchanges, but the strength of Arsenal’s backline showed how seriously Arteta was taking the encounter. Regular starters Jurrien Timber, William Saliba and Gabriel all kept their places in the side while Piero Hincapie was given the nod at left-back. Eyes were on Slavia’s 6ft 6in striker Tomas Chory, but within minutes that unit showed they were not going to be intimidated by his size or the Fortuna Arena’s noise. Gabriel won his first aerial duel against the forward before Hincaprie won a foul off him which helped settle matters. Advertisement The hosts had moments where they could break but individual qualities help Arsenal cope in some moments, while trusted partnerships did the job at others. Hincapie, for example, showed good recovery pace and composure to stop a counter after a mix-up between Ethan Nwaneri and Declan Rice. Slavia also tried to play a pass in behind Gabriel but rather than scramble for the ball, he just made sure to block the runner while Saliba swept across to nullify the threat. That wouldn’t necessarily make a highlight reel, but is part of what makes their chemistry so important in matches that could be trickier than first expected. After Arsenal secured their sixth consecutive clean sheet at home to Brighton last week, Myles Lewis-Skelly told reporters: “We call it (the Emirates) our house, and nothing comes in our house — our goal. We take pride in keeping clean sheets, stopping shots and crosses because we don’t want anyone scoring. ” Asked about that before the 2-0 away win over Burnley on November 1, Arteta added: “That’s the way I feel it. Hopefully the way they feel as well. But to use that language, you really have to feel it and you have to feel that when you get there, your energy level, your desire to defend your house, to threaten everybody, anybody that comes very close to that. It has to be your mindset, and if the players feel that and our supporters feel that, I think we’re going to be stronger. ” He is not wrong about that filtering through to supporters, with the concession of shots on target in recent matches now the butt of inside jokes about their immaculate defensive record. Arteta went on to say that language and context is slightly different away from home, and on how that manifested in Prague, the Arsenal manager said: “We come to a place where they create a special atmosphere. You saw that from the beginning. They haven’t lost at home here all season. So they have that winning habit, and that’s very difficult to turn around. Advertisement “We need to understand that. We knew that the first 15-20 minutes were going to be very little play and we have to be very conscious of that and accept it. Then start to change it throughout the first half and we’ve done that. I think the team showed a lot of maturity again. ” The collective commitment to that cause has been at a different level over the past 39 days, when they conceded that Woltemade goal, but that attitude that feeds it has been bubbling for a while. When Arsenal first returned to the Champions League under Arteta in the 2023-24 season, they scored 12 and conceded zero goals in their three home group games. The standout moment came in added time of a 6-0 win over Lens when Gabriel blocked a shot to prevent it going anywhere near Raya. Once he’d completed the action, he got to his feet an emitted a lion-like roar to celebrate in a way that would have been reminiscent of a father beating their toddler at a game of FIFA and gloating without any remorse. In the two years since, it has mainly been self-inflicted mistakes that cost Arsenal goals. Those have been cut out this season, with just one goal conceded from open play in three months. Raya may be incredibly protected by his backline at the moment, but beyond the eight successive clean sheets, his impressive saves at crucial moments against West Ham and Nottingham Forest have allowed Arsenal to go 13 matches unbeaten. Still just in November though, Arteta and his players don’t want this to be where they stop making history. “There’s a lot of work there to achieve that, ” Arteta said of the record. “The most pleasing thing is probably not the record, it’s the mindset of the players. They are talking about how we can still do better. There was one or two situations that we could have resolved better. If we do that, we can keep improving and that record will have a bigger meaning. ” (Photo: Stuart Mac Farlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Art de Roché began covering Arsenal for football. london in 2019 as a trainee club writer. Beforehand, he covered the Under-23s and Women's team on a freelance basis for the Islington Gazette, having gained experience with Sky Sports News and The Independent. Follow Art on Twitter @Artde Roche