Unlucky Paris beaten away to Arsenal
In a tight and cagey match, Paris Saint-Germain were beaten 2-0 by a clinical Arsenal side on Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League.
Two weeks after the last-minute 1-0 win over Girona at the Parc des Princes in the opening match of this season’s competition, the French side were back in Champions League action on Tuesday night.
Paris coach Luis Enrique started with captain Marquinhos, making his 450th appearance for Les Rouge et Bleu, and Willian Pacho in the centre of defence, in front of the returning Gianluigi Donnarumma. Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes occupied the full-back roles, with Warren Zaïre-Emery, João Neves and Vitinha in midfield. In attack, Bradley Barcola, Lee Kang-In and Désiré Doué looked to provide the danger going forward.
The home side began at a fast tempo, pressing high up the pitch and taking the game to their visitors. They opened the scoring midway through the half when Kai Havertz headed home Leandro Trossard’s cross (1-0, 20’).
Les Rouge et Bleu fought back, getting the ball into promising positions down each flank. Once such raid saw Bradley Barcola combine well with Nuno Mendes whose low drive beat David Raya from distance, but ricocheted off the outside of the post (28)! Then it was Achraf Hakimi’s turn with a spectacular charge down the right, that ended with a stinging shot, turned behind for a corner by Raya (31’).
As Paris searched for an equaliser, it was Arsenal that doubled their advantage. From near the right touch line, Bukayo Saka’s low free-kick somehow managed to squeeze past everyone untouched and into the back of the net, beyond the unsighted Donnarumma (2-0, 35’). The Gunners led 2-0 at the break, courtesy of their only two shots on target in the opening 45 minutes.
Paris returned from the interval with renewed ambition, but were unable to carve out any clear-cut chances despite dominating possession. Luis Enrique made a double change just after the hour mark, with Fabian Ruiz and Randal Kolo Muani replacing Vitinha and Désiré Doué (64’). Moments later Paris hit the woodwork for the second time when João Neves saw his effort from Lee Kang-In’s corner crash back off the crossbar (66’)!
Luck was not on Paris’ side. Lee saw another long-range effort sting the palms of Raya (69’), before the referee waved away Rouge et Bleu’s penalty appeals after Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori clearly handled in the box (78’).
In front of the outstanding travelling support who sang and encouraged their side throughout the 90 minutes, the final whistle confirmed a first defeat of the season for Luis Enrique’s side, who count three points from their opening two European matches this term. Attentions now turn towards this weekend’s Ligue 1 trip to OGC Nice, this Sunday at 20:45 CET; the perfect opportunity to bounce back…