BREAKING NEWS: I rely on Him yesterday to save me from fans dragging but still He played rubbish, I’m not really happy about His performance last night, I think it’s time for Him to learn Saudi”, Thomas Partey reveals the ONE Arsenal player that let the whole team down yesterday – Not Rice and not Ødegaard
Arsenal’s hopes of making their first Champions League final since 2006 took a huge blow as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to PSG in the first leg of the semi-final.
As expected, Mikel Arteta fielded his strongest XI for the visit of the French champions, with Bukayo Saka coming back into the side. Mikel Merino also returned to the fold in his more familiar midfield role as Declan Rice shifted to the base in place of the suspended Thomas Partey.
It was the worst possible start for the Gunners as a rampant Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele combined before the Frenchman unleashed a first-time effort from the edge of the box into the far corner.
PSG continued to cause a lacklustre Arsenal plenty of problems, and David Raya came to their rescue when he got down well to keep out a powerful strike by Desire Doue.
Arteta’s side began to up the ante following that with Saka seeing a strike from range comfortably held by Gianluigi Donnarumma before Gabriel Martinelli had a one-on-one effort kept out to keep the visitors in control at half-time.
Just minutes after the break, Merino thought he had levelled matters when he headed in from a Martin Odegaard free kick, but a lengthy VAR check saw it chalked off for offside. Donnarumma came to PSG’s rescue once again soon after when he made a brilliant save to deny Leandro Trossard.
The visitors managed to take back control of the game and missed some good opportunities to extend their advantage in the final moments. They managed to see out the closing minutes with some comfort to seal the win.
The defeat to PSG leaves Arsenal with an uphill task ahead of next week’s second leg trip to the French capital. It’s not over for Arteta and his side, but their visit to the Parc des Princes will certainly be tough.
Here are the Arsenal player ratings from their 1-0 defeat to PSG.
Arsenal 0-1 PSG player ratings
Goalkeeper & Defenders
David Raya (GK) – 6/10 – Not much he could do about Dembele’s opening strike but did make a good save to deny Doue.
Jurrien Timber (RB) – 5.5/10 – Really struggled against Kvaratskhelia who was afforded plenty of space ahead of assisting the opener. Improved slightly after half-time but a very uncharacteristic performance.
William Saliba (CB) – 5.5/10 – Had a tough time coming up against the rampant front line of PSG. Battled well at times but struggled overall.
Jakub Kiwior (CB) – 6/10 – Put in a few good tackles and made a good challenge to stop a counter-attack from a corner but also found it hard coming up against the Parisians.
Myles Lewis-Skelly (LB) – 7/10 – Didn’t always come out on top when defending but managed to break away well. Played some nice forward passes and was often found in the inverted position.
Midfielders
Martin Odegaard (CM) – 4/10 – Offered next to nothing with no real creative threat in the midfield. A poor showing from the skipper.
Declan Rice (CM) – 5.5/10 – In a slightly deeper role, he didn’t have as many opportunities to break forward and get involved. Looked a bit shaky when trying to play out from the back and his set-piece deliveries weren’t as threatening as usual. Left Dembele alone on the edge of the box for the winner.
Mikel Merino (CM) – 6/10 – Unfortunate to have an equaliser ruled out for offside. Offered a bit more in attack than his fellow midfielders but still not up to scratch.
Forwards
Bukayo Saka (RW) – 5/10 – Couldn’t cause any real issues down the right side as PSG constantly doubled up on him. Had a couple of shots but really struggled to be his usual self.
Leandro Trossard (ST) – 6/10 – Denied a one-on-one chance by a great save by Donnarumma. Offered some intensity but couldn’t break through a resilient PSG backline.
Gabriel Martinelli (LW) – 6/10 – Didn’t have tons of joy coming up against Hakimi but did manage to cause the odd problem. Broke through and had a low effort saved by Donnarumma.
