David Hytner was at the Emirates tonight. His report has landed, and here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
Mikel Arteta talks to Amazon Prime. “Really happy … we played a big opponent … a team with a lot of personality … but we were very dominant in the first half … the second half was a different story … Champions League brings different demands but we handled it very well … Kai Havertz has been unbelievable … his work ethic … a real threat … he’s one of our main players … set pieces are another weapon we have … we have great takers … a very physical team … the players understand these are game-changers … if we dominate every phase of play, we become a much better team … I love Luis Enrique to bits … he helped me when I was little … I will invite him [for a glass of wine].”
Arsenal’s stand-in captain Bukayo Saka, a picture of contentment, has a chat with Amazon. “We work most days on a lot of set pieces … it’s not a coincidence that we’re scoring every game … we could have scored more goals … overall we deserved the win … there’s a lot of hunger in my belly … in previous years I have come runner-up a lot … I believe in myself a lot … we believe in ourselves … we’re a top team, we showed that tonight … we had to make a statement … wearing the armband is amazing … I will cherish this night … we’re already thinking about Southampton at the weekend … we have to be so focused … we’re getting closer … we have to do whatever it takes to win … set pieces or our beautiful football.”
Post-game postbag. “While Luis Enrique presumably had good reasons for dropping Dembélé, if the purpose was to show that PSG would do just fine without him, then that’s not been entirely successful. Even when his end product is lacking, his unpredictable dribbles pull defenses out of shape, giving space to his less chaotic but more clinical teammates” – Kári Tulinius
Kai Havertz, named Player of the Match, speaks to Amazon Prime. “We played very well, especially in the first half … in the second half we were sometimes too passive … it was a good game … great result … good three points … it feels great to play here … I love the stadium … I am so thankful to play here and be a party of the team … back in the day I wasn’t a player who loved the duels, but now I just love it … if we win against teams like this, it gives us a big boost … last year it was tough to go out against Bayern but we grew as a team … we want to give something back to the fans.”
That result moves Arsenal up to eighth in the table. PSG drop from 15th to 18th, though they’re now above Celtic, whose goal difference took something of a hit in Dortmund.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Sporting | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 8 | Arsenal | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 9 | Bayern Munich | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| 17 | Monaco | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 18 | PSG | 2 | -1 | 3 |
| 19 | Celtic | 2 | -2 | 3 |
It wasn’t a classic, like Arsenal will give two hoots about that. Mikel Arteta’s side did a thoroughly professional number on PSG, securing two goals midway through the first half – a brave header from Kai Havertz and a mind-scrambling free-kick routine instigated by Bukayo Saka – before gliding home. PSG rallied a bit in the second period without ever really testing David Raya, and Arsenal follow up their hard-won point in Atalanta with a much more easily gained three at home. PSG were pretty toothless without the dropped Ousmane Dembélé. Luis Enrique may have to answer a few questions about that.
FULL TIME: Arsenal 2-0 PSG
Barcola crosses from the left, Raya claims, and the Gunners secure their first three-point haul of this year’s Champions League without too much fuss or drama. Two-nil to the Arsenal.
90 min +3: Nuno Mendes wins a corner off Calafiori down the left. Lee delivers into a crowded six-yard box. It pings awkwardly off Havertz but ends up in the arms of Raya.
90 min +2: Myles Lewis-Skelly comes on for his Champions League debut. Bukayo Saka makes way and receives the warm applause he deserves.
90 min +1: The first of four additional minutes goes by without incident.
90 min: Hakimi has a dig from the edge of the Arsenal box. He only succeeds in blasting the ball straight at his team-mate Kolo Muani.
88 min: Hakimi bombs down the right again. He crosses low, hoping to find Kolo Muani, rushing into the box down the middle. Kolo Muani is hauled back by Rice, and wants a penalty. Play is waved on. VAR has a look. It’s a foul alright, but not inside the box, so VAR can do nothing. Not even a free kick for PSG. Rice knew what he was doing.
86 min: Hakimi chases a long pass down the right but Kiwior, who hasn’t put a foot wrong since coming on at the break, gets across to cover.
85 min: … but Marquinhos heads Lee’s corner harmlessly over the bar.
84 min: Nuno Mendes turns on the jets from a standing start to zip past Saka down the left. He wins a corner. A goal for PSG here would make things interesting all right.
82 min: PSG have quickly lost the brief head of steam they’d built up. This match is now going nowhere, and hats off to Arsenal for wresting back control.
80 min: Arsenal draw some of the sting from the game with the old sterile domination.
78 min: Barcola competes for a loose ball in the Arsenal box. It pings off the lunging Saliba and onto the outstretched arm of Calafiori. PSG scream for a penalty, and VAR has a quick check, but the sheer lack of distance between Saliba and Calafiori saves Arsenal. The correct decision, though with Calafiori’s arm well away from his torso, a few home hearts were in mouths for a split second there.
76 min: Fabián Ruiz and Calafiori with some of the old playground-style shoving. It’s over nothing, as well, a throw in the midfield. Both are booked.
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75 min: Some pinball on the edge of the PSG box, the visitors unable to deal with Arsenal’s press. Saka tees up Martinelli, who attempts to shoot across Donnarumma and towards the bottom right, but can’t beat the keeper. PSG go up the other end, Saliba denying an in-flight Kolo Muani. This is suddenly more exciting than Arsenal and their fans would want it to be.
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74 min: Leandro Trossard is replaced by Gabriel Jesus.
72 min: PSG have the aura of a team who suddenly fancy getting back into this, and the denizens of the Emirates sense it. The first half was comfortable for the hosts; the second, despite the scoreline, doesn’t feel the same.
70 min: The Arsenal fans, sensing that danger, find their voice for the first time in a while. Their team do well to calm things down, too, with some game-management passing in the middle of the park.
68 min: Fabián Ruiz cuts in from the left and sends a curler towards the top left. Always a tad too high. But PSG suddenly have their tails up, and Lee’s low swerving shot nearly deceives Raya, who does well to readjust and block. For the first time this evening, there’s a vague whiff of danger coming from the visitors.
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66 min: Lee sends the corner towards the near post. João Neves flicks. Raya flaps. The ball cannons off the crossbar and away. So close to a mood-changer!
65 min: Nuno Mendes crosses from a deep position on the left. There’s nobody in the box, but a deflection earns PSG a corner. Lee to take.
64 min: Fabián Ruiz and Randal Kolo Muani replace Désiré Doué and Vitinha, while Thomas Partey makes way for Arsenal debutant Mikel Merino. A huge ovation as the new signing takes to the field at last.
62 min: PSG stroke it around, but go nowhere in particular. Arsenal seem happy enough to sit back and let them achieve nowt.
60 min: Lee slips a pass down the right for Hakimi, who gets to the ball ahead of Rice and enters the box. He goes over, but Kiwior’s challenge is a good one, and the claim for a penalty almost dies the split second it’s vocalised.
58 min: Martinelli dinks a cross long from the left. From eight yards at the far stick, Havertz can’t get any power on his downward header and Donnarumma smothers as the ball trundles towards the bottom right.
57 min: … but now it’s Arsenal who overplay out from the back. Partey gifts possession to Nuno Mendes, who barrels down the inside left and should take a whack from the edge of the box, but hesitates in looking for Doué and the chance is gone.
56 min: … nothing comes. Donnarumma plucks Rice’s floater out of the sky with ease.
55 min: PSG attempt to play out from the back, but can’t get through the Arsenal press. Martinelli takes up possession and drives down the left to win a corner. From which …
54 min: Trossard is down, having taken a whack to the thigh. He felt that, though after quite a lot of grimacing, the Arsenal winger gathers himself up and continues.
52 min: Trossard, then Havertz flick cutely down the inside-right channel and infield. Martinelli, ten yards out, can’t take advantage, sending a soft effort straight at Donnarumma. That could (should?) have put this game – and any PSG notion of a Leicester-style comeback – to bed.
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50 min: Saka sends Calafiori scampering into acres down the right … but then the whistle goes, very late, for a handball, Saka having knocked the ball past Nuno Mendes with his arm. The correct decision, but the time it took caused plenty of irritation.
49 min: PSG don’t bother sending the free kick directly into the box, and eventually win a throw on the halfway line. Arsenal more than happy with that.
48 min: PSG are on the front foot early doors. Lee crosses from the right. Calafiori half clears. A loose ball. Havertz then flings an arm into the face of Vitinha, and it’s a free kick for the visitors, 30 yards out, just left of centre.
47 min: No word yet as to whether there’s anything wrong with Timber. His place at right-back has been taken by Calafiori.
Arsenal get the second half underway. Jakub Kiwior has replaced Jurriën Timber.
Half-time entertainment. Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack reflect on an rhythmically pleasing list of 1-0 wins ruined by a seven-goal thrashing.
HALF TIME: Arsenal 2-0 PSG
The Gunners comfortable and in control. As for PSG, their fans are back in fine voice, at least.
45 min: Hakimi skitters down the right and whips a dangerous cross into the Arsenal box. Well, it would be dangerous had PSG committed anyone else in attack. Nobody in blue in the box. There will be one minute of added time.
44 min: Another Arsenal free kick out on the right. Saka hits this one long, hoping to spring Trossard clear on the other flank. He overhits it. Goal kick. Nobody, not even the Arsenal set-piece coach, is perfect.
42 min: Zaïre-Emery crosses from the right. Deflected. Easy for Raya. Arsenal are well on top now, though they’ll surely have Leicester’s (admittedly futile) two-goal comeback on Saturday in the back of their mind. A long way to go yet.
40 min: PSG were beginning to build up a little momentum, but that second goal has taken the wind out of their sail. They’re struggling to contain Saka, who dribbles dangerously down the right before eventually being flagged offside.
38 min: Saka sashays along the byline to the right of goal and fizzes a ball towards Trossard, three yards out. Trossard becomes the latest Arsenal player to miss the ball altogether, but this time his air-swish doesn’t fox Donnarumma and PSG clear their lines.
37 min: “You’re not singing any more,” holler the Holloway Road faithful, goading the previously vocal 3,000-strong away end.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 PSG (Saka 35)
Arsenal showcase their set-piece smarts. From the right touchline, Saka curls low towards the near post, six yards out. Martinelli swipes and misses. Partey takes an air shot. No matter, because both lunges have befuddled Donnarumma, and Saka’s delivery bounces straight through and into the net!
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34 min: Saka is skittled by Nuno Mendes while going nowhere down the right flank. A free kick, and a chance for Arsenal to showcase their set-piece smarts.
33 min: Zaïre-Emery backs himself in a footrace with Gabriel down the right … but he’s wrong to do so. As Gabriel ushers the ball out for a goal kick, holding the PSG man off with alpha-ease, he gestures to the crowd, celebrating his achievement as a striker would a goal. He’s within his rights. Fine defending. The crowd respond gleefully.
31 min: Doué sends Hakimi off down the right. Calafiori is left in his dust. He enters the box and lashes a fierce cross-cum-shot that Raya deflects behind for a corner, from which nothing comes. PSG haven’t panicked since falling behind, and now they’re beginning to ask a couple of questions.
29 min: Rice should send Saka clear down the right but clanks his diagonal pass straight at Nuno Mendes, who is in the thick of it at the minute.
28 min: Nuno Mendes finds a little space down the inside-left channel. He reaches the edge of the box, Saliba giving him a little too much time. He lashes a low outswinging shot towards the bottom right. It clips the base of the post and out for a goal kick. Raya didn’t have that covered. Inches away from a spectacular equaliser.
26 min: Barcola is sent scampering down the left. He enters the box, with only Timber to beat for the opportunity to shoot. He shows Timber the ball, with a view of dragging it around a lunging defender … but Timber’s not to be diddled, and toe pokes the ball away from the winger before clearing his lines. That’s outrageously good defending. The small matter of a whole season out injured aside, it’s not taken Timber long to show his quality in Arsenal colours.
24 min: Kai Havertz can’t stop scoring at the Emirates. Six matches in a row now.
22 min: Hats off to Partey, as well, for winning the ball to set Trossard and Havertz on their way. The 3,000 travelling Parisians had been making most of the noise, but now it’s all Arsenal as you’d imagine.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 PSG (Havertz 20)
… but never mind, because seconds later, Trossard swings a delicious high ball in from the left, having cut inside with determination. Donnarumma comes out and misses. Havertz times his run ahead of Pacho, and loops a header over the flapping keeper and into the top left!
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19 min: Saka slips Havertz into space down the right. He reaches the byline and fizzes a cross into the six-yard box. Donnarumma is out of the picture, beaten at his near post, but Rice hasn’t gambled by making a forward run and Hakimi can hook clear. A disappointing end to an incisive move by Arsenal.
17 min: PSG have enjoyed 55 percent of possession so far. A measure of how well they’ve settled after their slightly slow start.
16 min: Nuno Mendes goes down after running slap-bang into Saka, who wasn’t in the mood to give way. The PSG defender receives a quick spot of treatment before springing back up again.
14 min: Arsenal then go up the other end, Saka crossing deep from the right, Donnarumma catching confidently. Nothing much wrong with the keeper’s thigh if that leap was anything to go by.
13 min: Nuno Mendes sends a simple ball down the middle, and Doué is clear. He whistles a low drive inches wide of the right-hand post, then the flag goes up for offside. On Amazon, co-commentator Alan Shearer bemoans the late whistle, saying it was clearly off, but had that gone in, VAR might have had to get the rulers out.
12 min: PSG are beginning to settle. They string a few passes together and push Arsenal back in doing so.
10 min: Calafiori shows his worth down the other edge of the pitch. He’s nearly turned by Hakimi down the right, but sticks out a leg to concede a corner before a dangerous cross can be delivered. From the resulting set piece, Nuno Mendes shanks a wild shot miles right of goal.
9 min: The exciting Calafiori strides down the middle and slips a pass to Saka on his right. Saka cuts back into the box and aims a curler for the top-left corner. Just too high. Just a bit too far wide. Tonight’s first shot in anger sails over the bar.
8 min: … but apart from that, Arsenal are winning the majority of the 50-50s. Most of the game is being played in the PSG half, albeit nowhere near their goal. Not yet.
6 min: Saka dozes 30 yards from his own goal and has the ball taken away from him by Barcola, who should take a speculative dig from the edge of the box but pauses in the hope that a better option shows itself. A better option does not show itself. Arsenal clear their lines.
4 min: Donnarumma is thankfully fine to continue. He gets up and restarts the game.
3 min: Raya goes long down the middle. Very long. Donnarumma comes to the edge of his box to claim confidently, though he’s clattered by the extended leg of Martinelli, who was within his rights to compete for the ball. The keeper holds on, then the doctors come on to have a look at the thigh that’s kept him out for the previous three matches.
2 min: All a bit scrappy during the opening exchanges. Frantic and fast. Then Saka and Havertz threaten to get in behind PSG on the right, but the flag pops up for offside after they exchange passes.
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PSG kick off. The 3,000-strong away end have their back in the noisy style.
The teams are out. Arsenal in their famous red and white, PSG in first-choice blue. A crackling atmosphere in north London, despite the rain falling with extreme prejudice. We’ll be off in a minute, once fists have been bumped, coins are tossed, and Bukayo Saka takes receipt of the best pennant.
Some great news already for Ligue 1 tonight. Brest have just won 4-0 at Red Bull Salzburg, and for a couple of hours at least, sit atop Big Table. Some story this: they’ve never even won a major domestic trophy! Rob Smyth has the details of that, plus news of Stuttgart’s 1-1 draw with Sparta Prague, as part of this evening’s Clockwatch.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brest | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| 2 | Sparta Prague | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Bayern Munich | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| 4 | Celtic | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | Bayer Leverkusen | 1 | 4 | 3 |
Pennant watch. There’s nothing at all wrong with this …
🩶 Special @ChampionsLeague issue
— Arsenal Programme (@AFCProgramme) October 1, 2024
Long reads:
🇳🇴 Odegaard's Notes
🇧🇷 New signing Neto
🏴 Scorer today, Andre Harriman-Annous
🇨🇭 UCL legend, @Philsend4
🇫🇷 + huge Saliba poster
🐶 A chance to win Win!
😍 Buy prog pins too
🏟️ At Emirates tonight or order ⬇️https://t.co/SatjvDIbBB pic.twitter.com/NnL3JnlAeP
… until you see how PSG have taken things up several notches. Poor Marquinhos getting the bum deal in the merch swap tonight.
The locker room is ready to welcome our Parisians!#ARSPSG I #UCL ✨ pic.twitter.com/OT5xRJdlHn
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) October 1, 2024
The MegaLeague, as it stands after one round of matches. This is quite sweet, isn’t it.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Monaco | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | PSG | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 16 | Arsenal | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Atalanta | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Mikel Arteta speaks to Amazon Prime. “Very excited … looking forward to it … the kind of scenario we want to be involved in … [the starting team] is the right fit … a lot of quality … physicality … goal threat … everything we are looking for … [PSG coach Luis Enrique is] a very tough opponent … it’s a great test for us … we have to play with a lot of courage and determination … use the crowd … make it a very tough place to be.”
Arsenal and PSG don’t have too much in the way of shared history, but what there is between them favours the Gunners. The clubs met in the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1994: Ian Wright and David Ginola ensured the spoils were shared 1-1 in Paris, then the much-loved Kevin Campbell scored the only goal in the second leg. Arsenal went on to beat Parma in the final. Fast forward to 2016-17 and two games in the Champions League groups: it was 1-1 in Paris again, Edinson Cavani scoring after just 44 seconds, Alexis Sánchez equalising, Marco Verratti and Olivier Giroud receiving their marching orders in added time. The match at the Emirates finished 2-2, Cavani and Giroud scoring in the correct nets, Verratti and Alex Iwobi putting through their own. Both teams went through to the knockouts, and PSG boss Unai Emery joined Arsenal the year after.
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Arsenal’s starting XI – and their tweet doesn’t lie – is the same named for the 4-2 nail-biter against Leicester City three days ago. Their new midfield signing Mikel Merino has recovered from injury and is on the bench, waiting to debut for his new club. Ben White remains injured and absent.
There’s no Ousmane Dembélé for PSG. He’s in the doghouse despite scoring four times in six Ligue 1 matches so far this season. Fortunately for the Parisians, Bradley Barcola has six in six to date. Gianluigi Donnarumma returns in goal having missed the last three matches with a thigh problem.
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Team news
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Saka, Partey, Rice, Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard.
Subs: Neto, Porter, Gabriel Jesus, Kiwior, Jorginho, Merino, Sterling, Kacurri,
Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri, Robinson, Butler-Oyedeji.
PSG: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Zaire Emery, Vitinha, Neves, Doue, Lee, Barcola.
Subs: Safonov, Tenas, Fabian, Asensio, Muani, Mayulu, Lucas Beraldo, Skriniar, Zague, Naoufel El Hannach, Mbaye.
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).
🔴 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 ⚪️
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 1, 2024
Unchanged from Saturday's win against Leicester City ✅
Let's take it to the next level, Gunners 👊
The starting 1⃣1⃣! 📋🔴🔵#ARSPSG I #UCL pic.twitter.com/1Zq7JOE8eg
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) October 1, 2024
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Preamble
Arsenal could only manage a draw at Atalanta in their first game in the all-new Champions League mega-table stage. PSG by contrast are coming off the back of a 1-0 win over Girona. But with seven games still to play – and nobody really knows how this will pan out until it does – they’re hardly in must-win territory. So is this a big game or not? In strict dramatic terms, no, not really. But it’s still one of the giants of the English game against the leading team in France, and it’ll feel nice to win, so while there’s no full-blown jeopardy for either side tonight, we’re nevertheless in marker-down territory, where victory allied to an impressive performance will augur well for the long road stretching out ahead. Big game, then? Big enough! Kick-off is at 8pm BST. It’s on.
