I have seen this match so many times before. Arsenal are playing against one of the top sides in Europe; one side has technical quality, passes the ball around well and creates a few decent chances, but ultimately succumbs to the knowhow and ruthlessness of the side that knows how to win football matches.
I cannot tell you how much I enjoy that we have graduated from being the former side into the latter.
There were so many games in the late Wenger years when we were done by teams in exactly the same way that we did PSG tonight, and this evening it was a pleasure to see on full display how far we’ve come.
We lined up the same as at the weekend, the continuing absence of our captain necessitating that we cut our cloth accordingly – we just don’t keep the ball half as well without him, so we don’t bother half as much. Instead, we let PSG have the ball for large parts of the match, confident they would not be able to hurt us and happy to damage them from turnovers or from our own buildup when we did put our foot on the ball.
After a committed start from us where PSG did well to keep the ball away from our press, it was just before the twenty-minute mark when the magnificent Havertz got in down the side of the box and rolled the ball across the six-yard line only to see a static Rice recognise too late the run he should have made for a tap in.
No matter, as two minutes later we were ahead. Trossard held the ball well and found an excellent cross for our German striker, who had drifted into the perfect spot to get in front of Donnarumma and win a brave header which looped into the side netting. It was fully deserved for both the player and the team. Havertz was superb tonight. He won so many duels, held the ball well, never stopped running and made life horrible for PSG. My man of the match.
PSG looked like their best chance of finding some joy might be to get quick balls in behind as they have some pace out wide. Hakimi beat Calafiori for pace but Raya saved from a tight angle. The Spaniard was as assured as we are coming to expect, whilst Calafiori reminds me somewhat of a young labrador – he is just so damn enthusiastic, full of energy and wants to be in the middle of everything. As he adjusts and absorbs more and more of Arteta’s tactical demands his positioning will improve and he will fit in even better. A good performance but plenty more still to come from the young Italian.
Minutes later, Mendes burst past Saka and hit a long- range curler which clipped the post, but it was bending away from goal and Raya did not look troubled.
Donnarumma certainly did when we scored again from a whipped free kick into the box by Saka. Martinelli, Gabriel and Partey all threw legs at the ball but no-one made contact and it went through the crowd and the keeper to double our lead. Lovely stuff!
Trossard had a chance from a Saka cross that he could easily have scored, whilst PSG moved the ball around smoothly but without much threat.
Half-time came and, when the teams emerged again, we replaced the injured Timber with Kiwior. I can only hope he is not injured too badly (felt something muscular according to Arteta and replaced as a precaution) as he is one hell of a player. However, Kiwior is an excellent replacement to be able to call on and he was fine in the second half. Good for him to get some minutes and keep his eye in.
The lively Martinelli did not manage to build on his goal at the weekend despite a few decent chances, including an effort he volleyed straight at Donnarumma, after a delightful Havertz flick, when either side would have been a goal, but he was still racing around deep into the match in a way that made me tired just watching him.
Shortly after the hour we got to see Mikel Merino for the first time when he replaced Partey, who had cut a cultured and assured figure, spraying the ball about nicely without getting caught out of position as he has too often recently. The Spaniard did well enough, and it was good to see him get his first taste of life in front of the appreciative Emirates crowd, who gave their team plenty of support in a second half where PSG had spells of mild pressure that we seemed happy enough to weather, perhaps confident that PSG’s shower was unlikely to turn into a downpour.
They hit the bar from a corner that we let their man get to first, and a swerving long-range shot got Raya out of shape before he recovered to beat it away, but our defence has given us much reason not to be too concerned by this sort of thing, and once again they kept the clean sheet we know they prize so highly.
Personally, I rate Barcola, but he got very little out of us all night. Even though I don’t know the current PSG players as well as some of the former ones, they are clearly all good players whom we nullified to a large extent, at times keeping our shape and protecting our area, at others pressing and harrying them into mistakes.
A quick word for the ref, as he was excellent and conspicuous to anyone used to watching the Premier League by the quiet competence of his performance. He gave Ruiz and Calafiori both a yellow for a bit of nothing but overall he was excellent – impartial, consistent, in control of proceedings and making his business to enforce the laws of the game. He gave short thrift to play acting, or desperate shouts for a penalty when a ball rebounded onto Calafiori’s arm, and he kept his cards in his pocket when both sides made the minor delaying restart actions that the PL has started its pointless war against (well, at least when we are the ones doing them).
Frankly, by the end, I was a bit sad that this sort of performance is so rare to see for those of us who support English teams. Never mind can we play Spurs every week… can we have this ref every week?
Jesus came on for Trossard, and then took the captain’s armband from the hardworking Saka when he was replaced by Lewis-Skelly for the final three of four minutes injury time. By my reckoning, the ball deflected off his foot once when a PSG lad tried to pass it around him. Still, a few minutes were doubtless good for him as he learns to feel more at home on the big stage.
The match ended and it was all just so routine. We just took the sting out of what was supposed to be a tough game and got the job done with the minimum of fuss. Great result, great performance and a lot to build on and work with as we try to put together a run deep into the competition this year. On tonight’s showing, we are starting to look like a serious outfit at this level. Long may it continue.