PSG secured a famous 1–0 victory against Arsenal at the Emirates this evening in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.
When you defeat Real Madrid in the Champions League, you become the new favourites, so any team facing you would take you seriously.
That is exactly what PSG did in this match, starting strongly with a fine goal from the in-form Ousmane Dembele after just four minutes.
PSG had beaten Liverpool and Aston Villa before reaching this semi-final, and Arsenal were determined not to become the third consecutive Premier League club to be eliminated.
However, the Parisians appeared fully prepared for the challenge and capitalised on a gap in Arsenal’s midfield created by the absence of Thomas Partey.
Arsenal grew frustrated with PSG’s conduct early on, resulting in first-half bookings for Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka.
Nevertheless, PSG went into the break with the lead, having disrupted numerous Arsenal attacks to maintain control.
Mikel Merino thought he had equalised, but he was marginally offside and the goal was disallowed.
The Gunners struggled to score, while PSG frequently broke through the defence, only to be denied by the in-form David Raya.
Gianluigi Donnarumma also played his part, denying Arsenal on several occasions, though he was hardly made to sweat either.
Despite late pressure from Arsenal, the Gunners were unable to punish PSG, and the French side returns to Paris with a vital advantage.
Now it’s Arsenal’s time to do Remontada stuff
Which doesn’t look like anyway after today’s performance 🤣🤣
It’s half time, we’re 1 nil down but Partey is back for the 2 half (away leg). Against Real there was no expectation of a result but against PSG there was. The lads just couldn’t handle the expectation.
This. Arsenal have been struggling with heavy pressures in the last two decades
Maybe the next manager should be a proven European league winner who can speak English very well
@Gai, I don’t think it’s about a proven European League winner, PSG beat AVilla with an experienced European league winner Unai Emery at helm of affairs.
Imo it’s more of the resources in terms of men personal at Arteta’s disposal. This score line could have been different if Arteta have full squad to call upon. Havertz, Jesus and even mindless Pathey who got avoidable card at Madrid game.
Yeah our squad is so thin because of injuries
Until next week, too early
Arteta will still manage the club next season because what he’s achieved this season is pretty good considering the injuries, but I think next season is going to be his last chance
Comfortable win for PSG. Very lucky that we’re still in the tie.
Player availability also hit us hard today. Only an out of form 17 year old being our only option off the bench, and then compare that PSG!
Huge boost having Partey back for the second leg!
For as bad as we were, remember that our last away game in Europe was a dominant victory away at Real. We can still do it!
If only our manager said we were short up front and needed help in January?
I guess you never saw any of his interviews in January then.
I was being sarcastic lol
@Lucy78
Hate to be the harbinger of reality, but what happened in that last match has zero bearing on any future matches. Just saying….
Tell that to Real Madrid pretty much anytime over the last 4/5 years! They’ve been living off previous results for ages, and it’s worked perfectly for them.
@Lucy78
Until they came up against us. See what I mean???😁
But they then win things
Eg La Liga and CL last season
Key difference is look how they react when they don’t
This was by no means a comfortable win for PSG. They started better but it was a fairly even game over the full course of the game. Unfortunately, we conceded from a good but somewhat fortunate strike by Dembele.
No doubt we have limited options from the bench. The lack of squad depth has cost Arsenal this season.
I am damnn sure and certain that we shall win the second leg next week and eliminate PSG
Well said Haron.
It’s half time.
Thomas back.
Merino up front and defend well.
PSG dominated, Arsenal were lucky to concede one goal. Odegard went missing, Merino struggled in midfield and we really missed Partey. Arteta not bringing in Nwaneri earlier is just puzzling
Partey was the culprit because of his booking, the idiot!
Yeah!! Partey is bad. Arsenal don’t need him!!
He’s cost us whole season either as a defender or midfielder.
He’s useless
We are counting on the same idiot to help turn things around next week.
I often ponder whether our Captain is truly serious.
No killer pass or magic around the box today. Perhaps being goal behind early made it all rush rush, but rushing too much didn’t allow skills and possession to work like when this team at its best.
Matched the opponent in every other regard.
Trossard, Kiwior, Skelly decent games, Odergard, Martinelli may feel they could have played better.
Battling, streetwise performance in Madrid, undone by lack of composure around the performance today.
I knew Partey’s presence would be missed.
Now we know how important he is.
I blame Partey for this loss.
Hopefully, we can do a remotanda.
We just plan for life without Partey.
He costs us every time.
No good at all.
If somehow, we get through, he might cost us in the final. We’d rather he doesn’t play in the final
I don’t know if I’m the only seeing a natural Partey replacement in Timber. He’s as press resistant and can drive the ball forward. Whenever he drives into the midfield area I see that Party vibe in his movements. I hope the technical crew see same thing.
Playing too many long passes was a wrong tactical decision from Arteta
Arsenal should’ve been more confident to play from the back with short passes, as they did in their previous UCL matches
I think we really missed Partey’s ability to turn in tight spaces
Trossard played with his back to goal pretty well, but our attackers couldn’t maximize their chances to score
Our lack of awareness at the back was shown up tonight and we are fortunate PSG missed 4 clear cut chances to put the tie to bed.Apart from Rice who was magnificent in the second half, very few of our players impressed and Odegaard in particular was extremely disappointing.Our fans may voice their displeasure on JA, but we have to remember that we were playing a full strength ,high quality side without 3/4 key players.
If Arsenal sign a new CF in the summer, I hope Merino will tried in Odegaard’s position
@Gai,
Odegard gradually losing his touch I though Nwaneri could have come in much earlier.
We still have a slight chance in second leg. Pathey will add some grit to Arsenal midfield and Rice can make some runs into the box with Merino upfront
Arsenal already stretched in the absence of Gabriel, Jesus, Havertz, Calafiori and Pathey against a full squad PSG.
Yeah I wished Arteta had the guts to replace Odegaard in the sixtieth minute
Spot on
Without Hvertz Jésus Gabriel Partey And calafiori it was a very hard task
As much as we are really lacking in squad depth, I can’t understand why we made only one forced substitution for Timber over 90 mins when we were trailing.
Honestly Tierney, Zinchenko and Nwaneri would have added some spark instead of retaining tired players on the pitch.
At some point you take off Trossard,push Skelly to mid, Merino upfront and bring in Tierney.
Agree, there were opportunities to make changes and adjust our attack Mikel was just scared to do it. Didn’t even take off our worst attacker until 90 minutes. Needed the manager to be a lot more brave here and I think we could’ve nabbed a goal. It’s not like we were being conservative in the dying minutes anyways and PSG still had several chances to really finish us off.
PSG took advantage of the midfield, it’s a no brainier. They will play the same way in the second leg, we just have to play better and be clinical.
They are beatable……
PSG just need to sit back and play low-block against our severely depleted attacking line
Merino should play false-nine again with Rice and Partey behind him
They are a bit shaky in defence themselves – if they sit back, we can score, the problem is they can counter attack very well and score as well. We need to control the midfield, and I think we can with partey sitting and rice in that freer role where he can really disrupt them, like he did to Madrid
@Shone
Every team is beatable. They will play the same way, because that’s what gets them results. Low block and press. Our Achilles…
It wasn’t good enough. I think everyone tried but some of these guys aren’t cut out for these big occasions. Martinelli or Trrossard should have a goal, Saka is basically our chief attacker, shooter, and creator and thats just not fair. Odegaard a total ghost just like majority of his games this season. It was on Mikel to take him off and put Ethan on far earlier. It’s not over yet, just HT, but man, that was depressing.
@RSH
When you play against a well drilled and regimented team who thwarts your efforts, it’s best to just give them the respect deserved, instead of dumping on your own players who tried their best with the tactics given them. We must admit PSG punched our card. That knew how to get at us by disrupting our play with small fouls, employing the low block and pressing incessantly. We had no answer for it and it showed on the managers face. Just saying…
Odegard has been really poor this season for Arsenal, if the team is struggling, he goes missing, and he does that quite a lot. He is the type of player who needs others to help him raise his game and not one to help others raise their game. Arteta needs to keep him in the bench for the return leg and start Nwaneri.
I completely agree with you on this one
He is physically weaker, smaller and slow.
If i were to blame a single player for the PSG Goal, he will be our star boy for not running back to help Timber.. We still have chance with Partey playing as a CDM
I expected much more considering this was our biggest home game in 16 years! We had the wonky tifo, a flat atmosphere and a poor performance (men against boys for much of it). Conceded so early on and offered little response. Tonight made me feel we’ve had our ‘final’ against RM.
We have it all to do in Paris! 🫤
Yes Sue it was and we do have it all to do in Paris. I hope that you rejoin JA as you are the first lady after all.
I have got to say, I was disappointed and underwhelmed with what I saw. Yes, we were missing players but it was the way we approached the game and some of the things we did and didn’t do. We slowed it down and played back far too many times. They kept asking for the croud? Hello, thats up to you players. We were what looked like two minds all the time. We didn’t press and we didn’t sit back. We looked lost. PSG were not that great but they looked assured and had a plan and a way. We just looked like we wanted to score from dead balls and never went for PSG. I wasn’t impressed. I thought we were stronger than them physically but we never used it. We stood off them. I couldn’t believe that it was a chance to give it a go because this is our season, the CL, everything else has gone and it was just Blllrrrrrgggghhhh. Limp.
Timber was nerves first 30mins but he did improve and Krava went quiet. We need a player to replace who I have always said only plays well when the team is dominating. For us to win the EPL Odegaard, Havertz, and Merino must be part of the substitutes. Merino is too slow for EPL. Lewis Skelly can replace Odegaard with ease. We need to give Partey another 2 years then buy a player to deputise and learn from him and later take over. No one in the club can replace him unless there is someone in the junior teams who can surprise us.
If Arteta fails to win the CL he needs to go.
2 years for who? And we are always crying about his bad performance?
No ways. He must just go wherever he’s welcome at the end of his contract.
We need a player to replace Odegaard
This might sound weird guys but tactically we actually did well to not let the game get away with us after the first 30 mins
Played a direct style that at least slowed them down .
Wherever we can win in Paris doing that I’m not sure ?
Hopefully just a bad night ?
When some were predicting a win for us here, I said it that it wouldn’t be as easy, because the squad is extremely Tim and very predictable. To be fair to the manager and the players, they have over achieved when you consider the fact that there aren’t too much to even call upon from the bench.
But, it’s not over yet, we’ll scale through in the second leg. Weldon e to the boys, they tried their best
If only we improved the squad in January
So bad, when I look at our I see only leftbacks, or should I say left behinds.
Partey will get a new lucrative deal for sure. He did superb job seeing 2nd yellow to endear himself. We were deluded talking about Rice midfield maestro when the real deal lies with Partey. I bow my head and confess for belittling PSG or conversely for trusting Arsenal too much. Of course the result is still reverseable and we saw PSG drop points at home. The aim should be to win by 2 goals margin otherwise penalty shoot out is easier for PSG due to the giant Donnaruma as we saw them v Pool. Let’s be realistic mountain to climb but nothing impossible.
I’m not sure if you watched the game against PSG, but Rice was playing in a different position.
Clearly, you also didn’t watch the two games against Real, where Rice dominated both games playing in his best position.
Rice with or without Partey, is still world class, but obviously we look better as a team with both of them playing together.
Having partey or jorginho sitting allows rice to dominate. He’s too restricted in the 6 role, but imo he’s also not as good at it as the two aforementioned. He needs the freedom to use his brilliant defensive instincts all over the pitch, not just in front of the defence
Now we need to do what they women did.
So, we are 1:0 down going into the second game. We didn’t have our A game today, but their keeper was in splendid form.
We will soon find out if our players have the will and determination to fight back. Just one more win and we are in the finals.
I have a feeling they will step up to the plate.
COYG
I didn’t see the match but from the comments I believe we followed the same pattern as our epl season.
In the epl 90% of the games we drew was when Partey was played in RB, the games we lost was when we were a man down and our middle field had to be compromised to accommodate the shortage.
The good part is that with Partey in midfield we usually win and win well.
It is not over, arsenal just needs to raise thier game, rise to the occasion and win.
Im optimistic we can do it.
Coyg.
We missed Partey who is crucial in build up and we also missed what Rice offers when he’s further forward. A couple of times when Rice made runs into the box, PSG couldn’t handle him, but he couldn’t do it more often because he was playing deeper.
Arteta could have done better with the subs.For the first time, I admit Odegaard seems off. This was probably the worst performance I’ve seen from him. Nwaneri should have come in earlier.
It wasn’t all negative though. Lewis Skelly had a good performance and Rice was great in the second half. We created enough chances to score but their keeper made some good saves. I also thought Saliba showed great initiative sometimes by driving with the ball into midfield. Raya also made an incredible save without which the game might have turned out differently.
Finally, as much as we can criticize the players and the manager, we can also criticize the fans. The atmosphere at the Emirates was awful, unlike the Madrid game. 1-0 isn’t insurmountable; they showed they have weaknesses too. We can still win it.
The absence of Partey also showed just how important it is to sign another holding midfielder in addition to extending his contract.
I’m not getting the Partey praise
This has shown why we need to move on from him.
Remember two seasons ago in the run in jr suddenly went terrible once the pressure was on ?
Lacks the mentality and composure in big games
Dan,
While I hear what your saying. Didn’t he step up in the two Madrid games yellow card aside. They were two fairly big games I think you’ll agree.
Yeah mate but at this level it’s decided on moments isn’t it
Those little details that decide success or failure
We pay him lots of money for nights like last night and he’s sat watching collecting his salary
I can’t praise him for that
What I will say is the manager should have used recent games to try something in midfield
I said before the game we wanted Rice doing what he did against Madrid
They did try MLS in midfield though, against Palace, albeit for a few minutes. I too would have preferred Rice in the 8. But perhaps they were wary about the young man having to deal with Dembele. Ironically it’s the space vacated by Rice and Merino that gave Dembele the space to shoot.
Agreed @Dan.
We need serious upgrading on Partey ….. and we let him. Then the trophies will come.
I just think even if we sign someone, it would be great to have him in the squad, playing the kind of role Jorginho has been playing.Besides, we don’t play high pressure games throughout the season. High pressure is like 30%. He can still do well in the other 70% we are expected to win.
Please don’t even say that. 2 seasons ago Partey was returning from a long injury and he was not fully fit but still did better than most players.
Please stop under rating Partey.
Without Partey the midfield was open.
It’s obvious that we missed his press resistant moves and passes.
Someone who knows football will understand it.
That’s how you under rated Skelly and he has proved to you the good baller he is.
Try to watch football with an open mind.
I think the composure thing is a more general problem with the team. Trossard and saka both got booked for losing their heads – I think arteta gets them wound up and sometimes it spills over. The difference is partey knew he was one card away from suspension (which is bad for such an experienced player), but I think it’s a discipline problem within the squad.
What yesterday does show is that partey is not someone who can simply be swapped out for another midfielder – he’s a very specific type of player of very high quality (so it’s jorginho, which is why we signed him, even though he was on the decline when we got him). I’m not against replacing Partey at all, due to his age and contract situation, but it’s not an easy fix. I think that’s why we’re seemingly so hot on zubimendi, because he might be one of only a few who are available and might be able to replace TP effectively.
His press resistance is one of the things we missed. Without the ability to receive the ball and turn under pressure, we had to go long most of the time. And going long wasn’t an effective option either without Merino up front. Zinchenko is the other player who can do the build up thing but he always has these careless moments which PSG would have capitalized on. Even Jorginho would have been a welcome addition.
The composure issue is a valid concern. Interestingly I thought we showed a lot of composure against Madrid. I think we miss Havertz as well with regard to composure. For all his flaws, he’s one of the few players in the squad who doesn’t play to the occasion.
Havertz is very good at riding the line in the big games and gets under opponents’ skins. Agree, he’s almost more composed in big games compared with the normal ones.
Agree on the other points – people don’t seem to realise jorginho is the same type of player as partey. At his peak, he was one of the best at sitting in front of the defence and helping the team beat the press, while having the composure to spot dangerous through passes when they appear. There aren’t many like that, so we snapped him up when he became available, even though he was very clearly on the decline – he’s still better at that specific role than the vast majority of players out there
To all the over confident fans on here who posted quotes as to how easy it would be to beat PSG, well I’m going to say I told you so.
In more than one post I have cautioned about writing PSG off, they are a much better team now they’ve got rid of there three big names.
They’re more of a team now, and it showed. While we had a superb double performance against Madrid, we were always going to need to have that same level of performance in these games.
We needed our captain fantastic🙄🤦♂️ to step up, and as usual he went missing. If only arm waving could win us games we’d be world beaters. Now I don’t like seeing any player get injured, but knowing that Arteta won’t drop him to the bench for the return game, I find myself hoping that he picks up a niggle that will keep him out for that one game. Because Arteta will certainly not bench him, that’s for certain. Odegaard is so overrated it’s not even funny anymore.
The only two positives, is we only lost 1-0. And the other is that Partey should be back for the second leg. That being said, I wonder if Arteta will play him at the weekend. I think he shouldn’t be risked personally.
Spot on with the arm waving DEREK, what is it with these players constantly playing cheer leader to the crowd? It’s not just Arsenal players doing it, just play football and stop cheer leading when we get a corner, muppets 🙄
Dave,
👍👍👍👍👍😉
We needed at least to be level going into the second leg and we didn’t show up when it mattered, PSG in Paris have beaten City and Villa and dominated Liverpool before they were mugged at the death, I can’t see us winning by two clear goals over there but there’s still a chance we can go through, a very slim one.
Well that was a grim watch especially the 1st 25 min where we looked spooked by the occasion but there are several things noted that should help us play much better in the 2nd leg and hopefully qualify.
Psg looked vulnerable every time we managed to run through them in midfield Skelly multiple times and Rice 1 time. Rice was stuck in 6 role but he will be back to his marauding self next time and with Skelly behind him and Martinelli workrate that left side will be able to break psg man to man marking more.
Partey will be back at 6 and he is so much better at receiving the ball facing his goal and press resistant than Rice.
Merino will be back at 9 which will enable us to bypass psg pressing when under pressure and dissuade them from pressing every time knowing we can go over it and expose them. Couldn’t do that last night and it showed as psg pressed without fear knowing trossard wouldn’t win a single header.
Our full strength midfield can definitely win over Psg’s and if that happens their attacking threat gets nullified as their forward have to drop off to help out. This ain’t over yet.