Kai Havertz’s header and Bukayo Saka’s free kick in the first half saw Mikel Arteta’s side remain unbeaten across competitions, as a more comfortable night at Emirates Stadium than many would have expected for the Gunners saw the North London side claim victory over Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain side.
Arsenal got the job done in an entertaining and dominant first 45 minutes, before seeing the result out in a more defensive manner in the second half
PSG failed to threaten the home side throughout the game, something that could put more spotlight on Luis Enriqué’s decision to leave star Ousmane Dembélé out of the squad. The winger has scored four and assisted four in the opening 6 Ligue 1 games, but an argument with the manager saw him left out.
As It Happened
Arsenal started the game very strongly with two good chances inside the first ten minutes. A long ball from David Raya had just centimetres too much on it as he looked for Gabriel Martinelli over the defence. Brave goalkeeping from Gianluigi Donnarumma to win the ball. Just moments later it was the captain, Bukayo Saka, who cut inside from his right wing and narrowly putting a curling shot just high and wide of the top-left corner.
Leandro Trossard had a great first half, and it was the Belgian who was at the heart of the first Arsenal goal. Trossard powered through a challenge from Desiré Doué on the halfway line, and drove towards the box. As he reached the edge of the box he checked back gaining some separation from Vitinha and getting into a position to deliver a beautiful half-space cross for Kai Havertz who headed back across goal to open the scoring for the Gunners.
It took until the 28th minute for PSG to have a good attempt at goal. Nuno Mendes beat Saka to the ball after a one-two with Barcola, before having a go from outside the box as the ball narrowly skimmed the bottom of the post.
The chance didn’t build any momentum for the Parisiens as Bukayo Saka made it 2-0 for the Gunners in the 35th minute. It was also the captain who had won the free kick, after being bundled over by Nuno Mendes. It was on the right touchline, and Arsenal lined up similarly to if it was a corner, with 5 lined up at the far end of the penalty box. Saka’s hand went up, and they ran across the box before the Arsenal no.7 put in what at first appeared to be a very lacklustre low cross towards the near post. However, the ball went through three Arsenal and two PSG players before bouncing past Donnarumma to make it 2-0. How nobody got a touch on it was baffling, and the returning Italian goalkeeper ends up looking quite silly as the ball passes him by and into the net.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis was Arsenal’s first direct free-kick goal since the 18th of September 2021 when Odegaard scored one against Burnley in a 1-0 win at Turf Moor.
Just three minutes later, it was Saka who almost created a third. The forward went on the outside to the byline and found Trossard, who deserved a goal for his great first half, but didn’t find a good connection with the ball.
At half time Arsenal had been utterly dominant. PSG didn’t seriously threaten the Arsenal goal and despite a healthy amount of possession (61%) Arsenal’s structure didn’t allow them any attacking joy. Arsenal looked confident with the ball, the passing and movement were fluid, especially from the two fullbacks, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori.
However, Timber came off at half time for Jakob Kiwior who went to left back, as Calafiori moved to the right side. There were no signs of an injury for the Dutchman, who was dealing with Bradley Barcola with ease in the first half.
PSG were allowed to take control of the 2nd half, as Arsenal spent much of it sitting in a mid-block and hitting the French side on the counter.
Despite adopting a more passive style, Arsenal almost scored what would likely have been one of the goals of the Champions League this season. They turned the ball over pressing high in the corner, as Thomas Partey fired a pass at Saka who then gave it off to Trossard. The Belgian flicked the ball first time out of the air further inside to Havertz, who let it bounce before chipping it first time over Marquinhos and Zaire-Emery to Martinelli who hit it on the volley sweetly, but unfortunately straight at Donnarumma.
A few minutes later it was Martinelli who provided a chance for Havertz. A looped cross found the German who headed it weakly into Nuno Mendes’ feet. There wasn’t much pace on the cross in the first place, and Arsenal’s striker failed to get much power into it either to do something better with the chance.
In the 63rd minute, Mikel Merino finally got to make his Arsenal debut after injuring his shoulder in one of his first training sessions.
Embed from Getty ImagesPSG brought on Fabian Ruiz and Randal Kolo-Muani at the same time and soon after created their two most troubling chances of the game. A corner, which you’d expect to be something of note for Arsenal rather than PSG, was awkwardly turned onto the crossbar by Joao Neves. The young Portuguese midfielder got in front of Kiwior and poked the low cross into the ground and the bounce made it awkward for Raya who watched it hit his crossbar above his head. Arsenal were lucky no PSG player could turn in the rebound.
A few minutes later a speculative long ranger from Lee Kang-In troubled Raya, as the ball swerved mid-flight back across itself and the Spanish keeper had to readjust, parrying it back out in front of the goal. The rebound fell to Kolo-Muani, but he couldn’t get the ball out from under his feet and the Arsenal defenders prevented him from getting a shot-off.
Arsenal had one final good chance as Saka found Martinelli, but the Brazilian couldn’t place his shot wide enough to prevent Donnarumma from saving it. Arsenal’s 2nd half could be seen as preparation for a knockout game with a lead. Really passive, something Havertz criticised about their 2nd half in his post-game interview, but apart from the two chances mentioned, PSG struggled to play through the Arsenal block. It was a professional performance from the Gunners against one of last season’s Champions League semi-finalists.
A shout-out for PSG’s travelling fans whose night was probably better thanks to seemingly ignoring the game going on. The Parisiens never stopped singing despite their team’s uninspiring performance. 68% possession in the 2nd half for PSG but just 0.18xG tells you why Arsenal had no problems letting PSG have the ball tonight.
The Lineups
ARS: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Partey, Rice, Havertz, Saka, Martinelli, Trossard
PSG: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes, Zaire-Emery, Vitinha, Neves Doue, Barcola, Lee
