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3 takeaways as Arsenal blow PSG away in the Champions League
- Arsenal claimed a deserved 2-0 win over PSG on Tuesday
- Result shows the Gunners can compete with ‘big’ European teams
- A lot to like about the game, but there is room for improvement up top
By Kenneth Daly
These are the nights that Ivan Gazidis promised (sort of).
Okay, PSG are not quite Bayern Munich – in quality nor as Champions League royalty – but they still rank among the ‘big’ European clubs and were coolly dispatched by Arsenal on Tuesday, whose 2-0 win kept up their unbeaten start to the campaign.
Despite a relatively quick turnaround, Mikel Arteta named an unchanged side from last weekend and reaped the rewards for it, with goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka being the least the Gunners deserved following a dominant first-half display.
PSG fought back after the interval but, crucially, they never got that first goal and so Arsenal saw the game out without too much fuss and claimed all three points, a result which boosts our prospects of a top-eight league-phase finish.
3 key takeaways from Arsenal's impressive 2-0 win over PSG in the Champions League
Amid all the good stuff on show, here are three of the main takeaways from this first Champions League win.
1. Our midfield copes without Martin Odegaard
No captain, no problem (sorry Odegaard).
Tuesday marked our sixth game without the captain and, like it did against Leicester, the Arsenal midfield purred in his absence.
Each central player stood up to the challenge; Leandro Trossard continuing his rich form as our main creative spark to get an assist, Declan Rice looking back to his best in an advanced role and Thomas Partey rolling back the years with a tidy display and good defensive work.
Meanwhile, Mikel Merino made some fine tackles after his second-half introduction and looks like he will fit right in at the Emirates, his return to fitness giving Arteta another option during Odegaard’s layoff.
This match proved that Arsenal can still create chances and hold their own defensively without their talisman, whilst also suggesting that past ‘stodginess’ against Atalanta and Tottenham owed to game state and the transitional threat of those opponents more so than any lack of offensive talent on our part.
Still, our captain should be welcomed back with open arms.
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