game report – Player Rating – Arteta reaction – video
We won our first Champions League title of the season last night, beating PSG 2-0 thanks to first-half goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.
The team saw Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori both start at fullback and Ben White missing again. The rest was pretty much as expected. The opening stage was quite interesting as both sides felt each other out. PSG pressed high and David Raya played a superb pass long on to Gabriel Martinelli, but he couldn’t get a clear touch.
Calafiori had to defend against Achraf Hakimi and Havertz found some space in behind and hit a great ball but there was no one there. But that move, which included some fine work from Leandro Trossard, was a warning to the visitors. The Belgian created the opener as he broke free from his marker midway through and into the PSG half. He went inside, saw Havertz’s run and delivered a brilliant ball into the box, with the German heading home the onrushing Gianluigi Donnarumma. The quality of the delivery tempted the Italian goalkeeper, but the timing of Havertz’s goal and header was perfect (and brave). This means the German has now scored in six consecutive home games and, with five goals, is our leading scorer so far this season.
PSG had their moments. The battle between Saka and Nuno Mendes at left back was exciting. The Portuguese defender got in front and fired just wide, but it was his foul on the Arsenal captain that led to the second goal. A free kick from the side expected Saka to deliver high into the box, but he went low towards the front post. The Arsenal players ran in that direction and the PSG defenders were unable to make any contact. And I don’t think Donnarumma was honored. This is especially true when viewed from an angle from behind.
It is the first time we have scored from a direct free-kick since Martin Odegaard scored against Burnley in 2021. Was I lucky? confident. I’m not sure that’s what he intended, but it’s all important and gave us breathing room in the game. Did we see another set-piece ploy from another free-kick as Gabriel Martinelli’s ‘injury’ seemed to unnerve PSG? Saka almost found Trossard’s run, but slightly overhit, and again delivered a cross to the near post for Trossard, but missed contact.
In the second half, I think we saw this team’s development and maturity really come into play. We didn’t plan on letting PSG have that much ball, but when we did we tried to play PSG and break us down. In most cases, you couldn’t do that. A speculative shot from distance was deflected, causing a brief panic before Raya readjusted and made the save, and an attempt from a corner hit the bar and bounced away. That was it, but two second half changes gave us more to think about.
Keep in mind that we removed the impressive Timbers at half-time because we didn’t want to risk it with the muscle problem he was complaining about. This meant Jakub Kiwior would be played at left-back, and we moved Calafiori to the right. I think there were a few moments where his position on the ‘wrong’ side gave him problems, but for the most part he looked just as comfortable there as he did on the other sides.
I’m not sure how to describe the way he plays. He’s a very front-foot defender who likes to win the ball and get forward, but there’s a kind of raw innocence to that too. I am sure Arteta and his coaching staff will try to build on this rather than eliminate it. Because it gives a lot to the team. Especially when we are in the low block, he blocks the opponent and he helps us spring. from now on.
We could have scored more goals. In a brilliant move, Martinelli volleyed past the goalkeeper, Havertz headed over and Gabriel Jesus came on to make the situation ten times more complicated than it needed to be. PSG wanted a penalty for a handball, but for me that kind of incident should not lead to a spot kick and thankfully the officials agreed.
Mikel Merino also had time to make a surprise debut. The summer signing replaced Thomas Partey in the second half and provided a dual screen to the back four with Declan Rice ultimately leaving the French champions with no choice. To bring us down.
Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:
I think it increases our confidence and belief that we can compete with any team at that level in European competition, with a very different style of play to the Premier League. I think we’ve shown a lot of maturity in the way we’ve played and put an imprint on how we want to behave against the top teams in Europe, and I really like that.
PSG coach Luis Enrique said:
I take responsibility. I am responsible for this. Arsenal were much better in terms of intensity and pressing. They won all their duels.
If we had to describe our performance in one word, it would be ‘professional’. That’s what you need to be able to do at this level of the game. As I said before, this is a team that has matured before our eyes, but the question of whether they will be able to show that form against big opponents has not yet been resolved. Last night gave us a good clue, there will definitely be more to come, but it is an achievement and a result that we should be very pleased with.
Let’s take a closer look at Arsecast this morning. I’ll leave it there for now.
