Arsenal beat Paris St. Germain 2-0 at the Emirates in the Champions League thanks to goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka in the first half.
With ten minutes left in the first half, substitute skipper Saka increased his team’s lead after Havertz opened the score after twenty minutes.
The French champs missed the crossbar and the post, but Arsenal won the game handily.
Mikel Arteta remained with the same team that defeated Leicester in stoppage time, although Ousmane Dembele was a noteworthy absence for PSG due to his shocking dismissal by Luis Enrique.
After sitting out the previous three games due to a thigh issue, Gianluigi Donnarumma was available for the Ligue 1 winners, and the Italy international was called into action with barely three minutes gone.
Gabriel Martinelli scored a goal for Arsenal in a foot race against Marquinhos, but Donnarumma prevented him from completing the goal. He then found Riccardo Calafiori, who played in Saka, but his curling effort was too high. The hosts had their breakthrough when Leandro Trossard’s cross was headed home by Havertz, who was undeterred by Donnarumma. This was Havertz’s fifth goal of the season and his third in six days.
Arteta’s former Barcelona teammate Luis Enrique was agitated on the touchline, but Nuno Mendes warned Arsenal when he evaded Saka’s sliding tackle before his fine attempt hit David Raya’s far post. Achraf Hakimi managed to squeeze in a shot from a tight angle, but Raya’s legs saved for Arsenal.
Arsenal then landed a sucker punch when Saka was fouled on the near-touchline, allowing them to double their advantage. Martinelli, Thomas Partey, and Gabriel attempted to get a toe onto Saka’s curling set-piece, but his cross evaded both the Arsenal trio and PSG’s defence.
PSG were two to the good, and it felt comfortable against a side that reached the semi-finals of this tournament last season. However, after the break, PSG failed to retain the ball, missing Dembele’s creative spark. Gabriel and William Saliba stood firm at the heart of their defense, and Martinelli had another glorious chance to make sure of the points in the 75th minute.
(Livescore)
