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.

As the rhythms of the  anthems of triumph rang out across the ground this afternoon a thought gripped me .’ How I wish I had some of the royalties from Free from Desire’ ! No I jest , it was how incredibly surprising football can be . This game was a marvellous case in point . 

My football day began with a very pleasant lunch at our Ecuadorean eaterie in Holloway Road with the ubiquitous Countrymen . A look at Newcastle v City ( which we finished watching in the ground ). A short stroll to the ground, a friendly chat with Layth Yousif , editor of the Gooner, a pre-match pint of the ghastly and overpriced fizzy rubbish that Arsenal offer to supporters and  then into the match .

Arsenal’s team showed nine changes from  Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup win over Bolton. Raya returned in goal. Timber and Calafiori were the full backs, Partey returned in midfield and Trossard played the Odegaard role after a fashion interchanging with Havertz while Saka and Martinelli were out wide .

Martinelli needed a goal badly and missed a good early chance as Arsenal settled into a strong high press which suffocated Leicester who scarcely ventured into the Arsenal half in the first 45 minutes. Calafiori played the inverted full back role on steroids popping up in advanced positions to support Martinelli but sometimes appearing in central midfield well ahead of Partey . 

There comes a point in a game where you start to feel ‘ we need a goal now’ and in this game it came  around the twentieth minute ,  just as the murmurs were starting , when we scored a peach. Saka touched the ball back to Timber who played an immediate low cross to Martinelli in the centre and he swivelled to score . Arsenal continued to dominate forcing corners at will but finding the young Leicester goalkeeper Hermansen in lively form . Saka was facing double coverage whenever he got the ball but he was regularly able to find colleagues in space in the area . Just as we began to think ‘ wouldn’t it be nice to get a second goal before the break’ , we duly obliged as we moved into first half injury time .  Martinelli went from scoring to assisting , pulling the ball back for Trossard to leave Hermansen helpless from about eight yards . Apart from yellow for Saliba and Calafiori the first half could scarcely have gone better

Half-time Arsenal 2 Leicester 0 

Talk during the interval as people queued to drink the undrinkable( at great expense) was how soon we might see some of our young tyros in the game . The consensus appeared to be , ‘ get an early goal in the first 15 minutes and then throw the young lads on.’ Nwaneri’s performance had caught the imagination on Wednesday night and his entrance was eagerly anticipated . When he did come on it was in very different circumstances from those we had anticipated . Leicester had not had a shot in the first half but within two minutes they had a goal back. Buonanotte placed a free kick into the box from the left wing and Justin’s header deflected off Havertz’s shoulder past Raya .

While most of the crowd saw this as a minor incident in the course of an obvious cakewalk , the goal energised Leicester and their hitherto subdued and dominated players started to counter press more effectively, win 50:50 challenges and at least look like a team with some capability to extend Arsenal. Nevertheless a fierce Justin volley on the hour which flew past Raya and cannoned into the net  off the left-hand post was a major surprise and created a very different match . 

Arsenal were still dominant. In the total match they won 17 corners to Leicester’s zero. Over the match they dominated 75% of the possession and with ten minutes to go Arsenal had fired 29 shots and Leicester only two but the score was tied at 2-2 .

This situation was largely due to the brilliance and reflexes of Hermansen who made an extraordinary double block from a corner from Havertz and Gabriel. He inadvertently passed to Trossard and blocked his resulting  shot at close range and then spectacularly turned a Calafiori header over . Trossard lashed a shot against the post after a Saka cutback.

But perhaps the effort that most deserved to beat him was a magnificent run and shot from Nwaneri in his first action after entering the fray in place of Partey after 70 minutes . He curled a left- footed effort from twenty yards which Hermansen tipped away. Could anyone beat him? Nwaneri regalvanised the team , upping our tempo and energy levels and taking pressure off the heavily marked Saka on the right flank . The clock ticked on and as we entered 7 minutes of injury time there was real concern that we might drop two previous points .

Just into injury time Saka whipped in a left-wing corner which evaded the pack of attackers and defenders in the centre . Trossard waiting to the left of goal stabbed it back left-footed and it entered the goal via Ndidi’s outstretched foot . Cue a mixture of relief and exultation . Leicester tried to rescue the game but in the last minute Arsenal counter- attacked after a Leicester raid . Substitute Gabriel Jesus broke clear and in my view took the wrong option to shoot ( weakly) across goal when company was arriving to his left . For once Hermansen fumbled the ball which Justin deflected on to Havertz who scored from close range. The goal was initially disallowed but the deflection off Justin rendered it legal and at 4-2 the game was over . Cue ‘ Free from Desire ‘ and a triumphant but relieved Arsenal crowd. 

Full time Arsenal 4 Leicester 2 

Leicester seemed aggrieved that there was a foul in the build-up to our first goal and seemed to feel Calafiori had been let off a second yellow. I thought it ironic that for much of the second half the teams recereated the tableau that we saw last Sunday at the Emptihad as we passed the ball around the area and Leicester employed some ‘ dark arts ‘ of their own as players found reasons to delay almost any action on the field and Hermansen regularly went down for treatment . To be fair to Arsenal we created many more chances than C115y did last week but inevitably the second half was a nervy affair. Two points dropped from 2-0 up at home against a relegation candidate would have been disastrous. That such an outcome was averted was due to a combination of determined attacking play , the introduction of Nwaneri who looks an absolute gem and Arteta’s ability to make good substitutions. Sterling replaced Martinelli to good effect and Jesus’s impact was immediate .

Flowers should be extended particularly to Rice who in his quiet , dedicated way covered every blade of grass and put out fires all over the pitch, Timber and Calafiori who bring huge personality to their full-back roles and Trossard who took on the almost impossible job of replacing Odegaard and made a thoroughly good fist of it . This goes down as a narrow escape but an extremely entertaining and invigorating one. Roll on PSG on Tuesday !

Several Hale Enders put on a show as Arsenal thrashed League one Bolton in the League Cup. It was a line up reminiscent of many of Wenger’s sides in this competition from yesteryear partially due to injuries as well as a few players knocking on Arteta’s door following good showings in our preseason tour of the US.

As expected, Myles Lewis- Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri both started after both being given Premier League minutes in the past week. There were also first team debuts for Josh Nichols and 16-year-old goalkeeper, Jack Porter. More on him later. 

There was also a full debut for Raheem Sterling whilst both Rice and Saka started, perhaps surprisingly. Bolton did start the game confidently and perhaps should have gone ahead in the first few minutes as former Burnley man Scott Arfield fired over from close range. But Arsenal showed their topflight quality by scoring with their first real attack. Josh Nichol’s cross wasn’t dealt with as the ball found its way to Rice on the edge of the box. Dec took a touch to set himself before firing into the bottom corner. 1-0 on 15 mins.

Shortly before the break Arsenal found a stylish second. The build-up was superb as Myles Lewis- Skelly played an Ozil/Bergkamp-esque through ball to Sterling on the left and the seasoned international played a perfect first-time ball to Nwaneri to tap home for his first ever senior goal at 17 years of age. In doing so, he became the first player born after the club moved to The Emirates to score for Arsenal. Even I feel old just typing that. 

Nwaneri’s night got even better just after the break as Rice stole the ball in the final third and played in Nwaneri who slammed home to make it three and double his personal tally. I could be being pedantic here, but I felt as though despite his goal, Nwaneri should’ve played in Rice who was in a better position. A Premier League goalkeeper may well have saved that. But Nwaneri is now the youngest Arsenal player to score a brace on his full competitive debut so what do I know?

Bolton managed a surprise goal shortly after. We lost possession in the final third and Collins found himself in acres of space before rounding young Porter as he rolled in a consolation. Was it poor goalkeeping? Yes, but 16 is outrageously young for a goalkeeper. At 16 years and 2 months he is remarkably the youngest ever player to start for Arsenal. He is younger than Fabregas was when he scored that famous screamer at the San Siro, and younger than the first series of The Inbetweeners. To put things into perspective, Porter was 11 when Arteta took over. In truth, the real question is why Porter’s goal wasn’t better protected by his more senior teammates. The sole blot on an otherwise perfect evening.

Ten minutes later we restored our three-goal cushion after successfully taking the sting out of Bolton’s short-lived resurgence. Saka turned two Bolton defenders inside out and back to front before drilling a low shot that was spilled by the ‘keeper allowing Raheem Sterling to prod home from two yards out. A goal and assist on his full debut, you can’t have any complaints about that. 

Unfortunately, Myles Lewis Skelly had to go off with what looked like a muscular problem so hopefully that’s nothing serious as he looked very assured and comfortable despite being out of his natural position. Kai Havertz came on and prodded home the fifth, as we also saw first team debuts for centre back Maldini Kaccuri (now that is a proper name) and forward, Ismael Kabia, who scored the winner for the U21s at Leyton Orient a few weeks ago. Overall, six academy youngsters were given their full debuts. So much for Arteta not giving a chance to the yoof.

Both CER and I were surprised at the quality of football on display given the number of youngsters on the pitch. Some may have expected a more disjointed performance, but it was anything but. Hale End is clearly no teenage wasteland…

Preston North End away awaits us in the next round. The Invincibles Derby if you will. PNE are a division above Bolton so we may not see quite as many youngsters in that game but I’m sure we can make way for one or two. I would not be surprised if Nwaneri starts on Saturday or at least gets 20-25 mins. He was unsurprisingly the standout youngster, but it was more than just his goals which stood out. Physically he looked ready, his passing was crisp, his movement excellent. Leicester may be the ideal game to bring him into the Premier League fold proper. Let’s wait and see. 

COYG!