The Gunners entered the pitch knowing that automatic qualification for the last 16 had already been secured following Manchester City’s shock defeat to Bodo/Glimt earlier in the evening, but they still began in rampant fashion here, taking a deserved 10th-minute lead.
Jesus applied a sliding poacher’s finish when Jurrien Timber scuffled an effort into the Brazilian’s path at the end of a sublime free-flowing move.
It was Arsenal’s 400th European Cup goal, but their lead was wiped out a mere eight minutes later.
Petar Sucic unleashed a superb right-footed finish past a helpless David Raya, as a loose ball fell perfectly into his path after Marcus Thuram’s and Nicolo Barella’s efforts were blocked.
The Gunners defence was looking uncharacteristically porous, and Thuram should have done much better when he lashed a shot over the bar following a rapid Inter break forward.
Arteta’s men punished that profligacy, as Jesus nodded home from inside the six-yard box, after Leandro Trossard headed Bukayo Saka’s corner back across the face of goal to reclaim the lead before half-time.
The Gunners were pushing to extend their advantage when they returned for the restart, with Yann Sommer called into action to deny Eberechi Eze, before Trossard’s left-footed volley flew past the far post.
Cristian Chivu looked to freshen up his attack in response with the introduction of Pio Esposito, who had a chance to restore parity when he latched onto Luis Henrique’s pass and fired just wide of the target.
However, there was still time for the visitors to add a third with a fine finish from Viktor Gyokeres, who played a one-two with Saka from Gabriel Martinelli’s superb long ball forward to cap off a fine night’s work in northern Italy.
This result extends Arsenal’s unbeaten run to 12 games across all competitions (W10, D2), and they are now guaranteed a top-two finish in the UCL league phase with this result.
Meanwhile, the Nerazzurri’s top-eight hopes remain in the balance, as they succumbed to a third consecutive UCL defeat for the first time since 2011.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)