It is fair to say, one feels, Arsenal do not have the most impressive history in European competitions, and the UEFA Champions League in particular.
On Tuesday night, playing at home at the Emirates Stadium against the French champions Paris Saint-Germain, they took one massive—and surprisingly comfortable—step in the right direction.
Mikel Arteta named his strongest possible starting eleven once more—the same team which had started against Manchester City away at the Etihad, and then again versus Leicester at home on the weekend.
One big difference: new signing Mikel Merino started on the bench, having recovered from the shoulder injury he picked up in his first training session for the club.
Arsenal Line-Up
Firxt-XI: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice, Partey, Saka, Martinelli, Trossard, Havertz
Bench: Neto, Porter, Lewis-Skelly, Robinson, Kacurri, Kiwior, Jorginho, Merino, Nwaneri, Sterling, Jesus, Butler-Oyedeji
Arsenal Impressive in Comfortable Win at Home Against PSG
The Gunners began brightly, and kept complete control of the game while still playing total football. Bukayo Saka was in imperious mood, Kai Havertz was hungry and determined, Leandro Trossard was lively, and Thomas Partey put on an absolute master class on how to dominate the middle of the park.
In the first half in particular, it was men versus boys at an energetic, bouncing Emirates, and for once, Arsenal’s players appeared the elder statesmen of the beautiful game. So often in the past, they have been accused of naïveté when playing against the elite in Europe … but not here.
Kai Havertz Scores Again!
Arsenal’s first big chance came at nine minutes. Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, and Riccardo Calafiori combined to find Saka, who cut in from the right as he does, and whipped his shot just high of the far post.
The Gunners build from the back, through the left again, in the 20th minute. Gabriel found Trossard, who drove at the heart of PSG’s defense from the halfway line, gliding and winding his way through, before finding Havertz in the box with a succulent cross served on a silver platter. The German made no mistake in guiding his header past the onrushing Donnarumma and …
… it was 1-0 to the Arsenal.
PSG grew into the game after that first goal, with Mendes coming close in the 27th minute. However, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães were colossal once more, with Jurrien Timber and Calafiori excellent complements.
The Starboy of Arsenal
In the 35th minute, Saka whipped in one of those sumptuous crosses off which Gabriel has found so much joy recently. This one, from a free-kick near the touchline on the right-hand side. His cross missed all of Martinelli, Gabriel, and Partey, and entirely evaded Donnarumma to end up in goal.
From there, Arsenal locked it down, and allowed their visitors the lion’s share of the possession. Still, they could have scored more. Havertz had his header deflected in the 57th minute, and Martinelli forced a low save from the PSG keeper in the 75th.
One potential worry for Arsenal fans after an incredible European night would be Timber being forced to come off at half-time, to be replaced by Jakub Kiwior. They will have to hope any injury is not serious and long-term, given Ben White remains also unavailable.
On the more positive side of things, Mikel Merino came on for the excellent Partey in the 64th minute for his Arsenal debut. Gabriel Jesus replaced Trossard in the 74th, and Myles Lewis-Skelly made his Champions League debut in the 92nd minute, coming on for Bukayo Saka.
Reaction to the Result
Mikel Arteta was understandably delighted speaking after the match.
On the Performance: “We played one of the best teams in the world, they are super dominant in the league, they have so much quality, understanding and tactical options, and we dealt with it really well, with a lot of personality.
“We were very determined, we wanted to be owning that pitch, playing the way we wanted to and in the first half, I think we were very impressive with the performance and the two goals that we scored.”
On Kai Havertz: “So powerful but as well so intelligent. The way he occupies the spaces, the way he connects everything together, his work ethic and now he’s around the box and you have the feeling that he’s going to score a goal. The goal was superb, I think overall the performance was as good as from him, so really pleased with that.”
Kai Havertz, having scored his sixth goal in six consecutive appearances at the Emirates Stadium, said:
“It just feels like home to me. It feels nice to play here, the atmosphere is great, the support is great. Sometimes when the game goes against you, all the supporters are important to us. We feel that a lot on the pitch, it helps me a lot and gives me a lot of confidence.
“I can still improve. Every game, I get two or three good chances, and I want to get better and score more goals. It’s a good start to the season and I can improve in a lot of aspects.”
After the Final Whistle
Arsenal face Southampton in the Premier League on 5th October at home in their final match before the next international break, and face Bournemouth away on the 19th before hosting Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on 22nd October.