PSG 2 Arsenal 1 (3-1 agg): Gunners’ season over as Arteta’s side rue missed chances and Donnarumma puts on masterclass
NOT for the first time, Mikel Arteta’s failure to do the bloody obvious and sign a no9 properly bit him on the backside.
Declan Rice had called on his team to show “big balls” but what they really needed in this semi-final was a big striker.
Ollie Watkins, who Arsenal tried to sign in January, would have made a difference. The same goes for Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, a forward they wanted last year and will try and look to bring in again this summer.
While swashbuckling PSG continued their emergence as a major European football force, Arsenal will now be left to reflect on what could have been.
Fabian Ruiz put PSG ahead and, while Vitinha saw his 69th-minute penalty superbly saved by David Raya, Achraf Hakimi made it 2-0 with a great finish.
Bukayo Saka pulled one back and then missed a great chance which, maybe, could have forced a PSG collapse.
Yet ultimately, Arteta’s team did not really do enough despite a late flourish and can not have too many complaints.
Yet had Arsenal scored three times in a terrific early spell when PSG seemed to be doing their best to choke on the big occasion, we would certainly have had a very different semi-final. Maybe one to match the madness of the one 24 hours earlier.
While Paris may be known as the city of love, Arsenal fans will not feel that way.
It is 19 years since Arsene Wenger’s fine team were beaten in the final by Barcelona at the Stade De France and this latest defeat will be just as painful.
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PSG will fancy their chances against Inter Milan in the final but so would Arsenal and rightly so. This game, but also this season, has been one hell of a missed opportunity for Arsenal.
PSG may have reached the final five years ago but it feels as though this could now be their time.
They have now beaten Manchester City this season in the group stages and then dumped Liverpool, Aston Villa and now Arsenal out of the competition.
Initially, Arsenal overwhelmed PSG in an absorbing start but they had nothing to show for it.
Declan Rice headed Jurrien Timber’s cross wide and Gianluigi Donnarumma used his knee to keep out a volley from Gabriel Martinelli.
Donnarumma seems to save his best for English teams as he saved two penalties in the Euro 2020 final shoot-out and was then also the spot-kick hero at Anfield.
He was at full stretch to turn around a low, powerful shot from Martin Odegaard with the PSG defence once again struggling with a long throw from Thomas Partey.
Donnarumma asked for treatment, claiming to be injured, but he was doing it to waste a bit of time as his team were on the ropes. He tried to take the sting out of Arsenal’s confident, high energy start and it certainly worked.
PSG finally found the zip which was lacking in the first 20 minutes and after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia hit the post, Ruiz struck his first ever Champions League goal.
Rice picked up a booking for wrapping his legs around Kvaratskhelia but it got much worse from Vitinha’s free-kick.
Partey delivered a headed clearance but Ruiz delivered a magnificent first touch with his chest to steer the ball away from Martinelli and then unleashed a fine finish from the edge of the area.
It did seem to take a slight touch off William Saliba who turned his back ahead of the shot.
Arsenal ratings v PSG
ARSENAL'S Champions League dream ended in tears as they failed to revolt against Paris Saint-Germain in Paris.
The Gunners came flying out of the blocks and tested Gianluigi Donnarumma early, but it seemed it was going to be one of those nights from the get go. And so it proved.
Despite early pressure, Arsenal found themselves behind following a Fabian Ruiz volley.
Achraf Hakimi then added a brutal second mere moments after David Raya had kept Arsenal in the tie by denying Vitinha from the penalty spot.
But Bukayo Saka, who had been denied all night by old nemesis Donnarumma, finally bested the Italian in the 76th minute when he made the most of a deflected cross to round him and fire into the net.
With the deficit on the night halved, Saka then had the chance to level the score as he was found free in the middle with an open goal at his mercy.
But the winger was unable to keep the ball down once he made contact and saw his effort sail miles over the bar.
PSG then saw out the result without further worry to book their spot in the Munich final against Inter Milan.
Here’s how SunSport’s Jordan Davies rated the Gunners in Paris.
Arteta went crazy in his technical area. He called over Rice for some advice and tried in vain to get a message to Saka but it was too noisy inside the stadium.
Martintelli was ordered to the touchline before being dispatched to the other side of the pitch to give Saka instructions.
There was a moment when Saka delivered a ball into the area but there was no-one there and he threw his arms in the air with frustration.
Saka produced Arsenal’s best chance after the hour but once again, Donnarumma used his huge frame to somehow keep out the effort.
A minute later, VAR spotted a handball from Myles Lewis-Skelly which blocked a shot from Hakimi.
Raya delivered an excellent save to keep out Vitinha’s penalty, although a super-slow run-up made his spot-kick easy to predict.
Defender Hakimi then delivered a striker’s finish after a mistake by Partey to put Enrique’s team in total control.
There was some hope for Arsenal when Saka rounded Donnarumma to pull one back while PSG players appealed in vain for a foul from Leandro Trossard on Marquinhos.
And the moment which could have maybe changed the tie came when Saka somehow missed from close range but he shinned the ball over from a few yards.
Once again, had Arsenal had a No9, it could have been oh so different.