.png)
1 hour ago
6
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
57 min Fabian Ruiz tries to slip a pass into Dembele in the area. It’s well read and cut out by Trossard.
56 min Saka and Trossard, Arsenal’s wingers, have played such an important defensive role. There has been no space at all for Doue and Kvaratskhelia.
55 min Hakimi cracks a free-kick around the wall. It bounces up awkwardly and is well held by David Raya.
54 min Saka is booked for a foul challenge on Doue. His studs bounced off the ball and scraped the sliding Doue’s shin. The free-kick is about 28 yards from goal; Vitinha, Hakimi and Nuno Mendes are over it.
53 min PSG are still trusting the process, but they must be starting to wonder whether it’s going to work tonight. They can’t get behind Arsenal for love nor money.
52 min Joao Neves is penalised for a foul throw. Yep.
51 min “The thing about defeating this PSG team,” begins Kári Tulinius, “is that you need to stop Kvaratskhelia, who’s probably the best player in the world, and Desiré Doué, who might be the best player in the world, and Ousmane Dembélé, who’s officially the best player in the world. If Arsenal see out this match, no one can say they didn’t do it on hard mode.”
50 min A familiar start to the second half – lots of PSG possession but all in front of the Arsenal defence.
Right here, right now, Arsenal Football Club are 40 minutes away from winning the bloody flippin European Cup.
48 min “Jeezo,” says James Humphries. “I made the Clive Thomas joke to my pal, as well. Middle-aged men are all alike, etc.”
Got any earplugs?
47 min Mosquera is booked for timewasting at a throw-in. Looked a bit harsh but I didn’t have the stopclock running so who knows.
47 min “Bonkers in Tufnell Park,” writes Steve Bradfield. “Never seen so many people in red and white shirts. If they win I think I’ll be wearing ear plugs in bed.”
46 min PSG get the second half under way. No substitutions yet.
“One for the purists* this,” says Niall Mullen.
“*Those who enjoy pure narcotics.”
Half-time reading
The World Cup starts in less than a fortnight, you know.
Half time: Paris Saint-Germain 0-1 Arsenal
That was the first half of Mikel Arteta’s dreams. Kai Havertz, selected ahead of Viktor Gyokeres, scored a superb early goal and Arsenal kept PSG at arm’s length for the rest of the first half. Any team in history, even Franco Baresi’s AC Milan, would have been proud of such an immaculate defensive performance. But they have to do it all over again when the second half begins.
45+7 min Arsenal win a corner on the stroke of half-time… and the referee blows for the break before they can take it. Somewhere in the world, Clive Thomas nods knowingly.
45+5 min Fabian Ruiz thrashes an awkward cross-shot from the left wing that is spilled by David Raya. Happily for Arsenal, he has enough time to retrieve the loose ball.
45+3 min: Vital tackle by Marquinhos!
Arsenal work the ball superbly on the right. Mosquera plays a square ball into Odegaard, who slips a lovely first-time pass through to Havertz. He takes a touch and hits a shot from eight yards that is crucially blocked by Marquinhos. Yikes, that was so close to 2-0. I’d like to see it again to see whether Havertz’s first touch was too heavy.
45+1 min PSG continue to trust the process, with few signs of impatience when they have the ball. It’s fascinating to watch, even if there have been no clear chances at either end.
45 min There will be six minutes of added time, mainly because of the drinks break and the Safonov injury.
45 min PSG are starting to look more dangerous as we approach half-time. Dembele turns Trossard neatly just outside the area before slapping a curler into orbit.
44 min “My favourite of the genre was Batigol at Wembley,” writes Niall Mullen. “A collector’s item as well, the ball somehow going over Seaman’s head.”
A veritable Batigolazo.
43 min Mendes gets round the back and hammers a cross that is only partially cleared by Hincapie. Fabian Ruiz lunges for the loose ball, six yards out, but heads wide. Half a chance, which makes it PSG’s best so far.
42 min “It may just be me,” writes Gary, “but Fabian Ruiz looks like a confused banker after a few pints wandering around the city in his gilet suddenly remembering he’s playing in the Champions League final.”
41 min Mendes tries an imaginative pass around the Arsenal defence towards Dembele. He doesn’t quite get it right, however, and it’s cut out on the edge of the area by you-know-who.
40 min “That Havertz strike reminded me of the one on one method favoured by former Arsenal centre forward Malcolm Macdonald,” writes Brian Withington. “He was apparently coached to put his laces through the ball aimed directly at the keeper’s throat - the theory being that the latter would instinctively flinch and get out of the way or need urgent replacement.
”I saw him put theory into practice at Upton Park against Bobby Ferguson who just managed to get his head down and hands up but could only partially arrest the ball’s progress into the net.”
Are you saying goalkeepers don’t like it up ‘em?
38 min Arsenal’s defensive performance so far is about as good as it gets. PSG, the best attacking team in the world, have had 76 per cent possession and no shots on target.
37 min Dembele whacks a curler from the edge of the box that is superbly blocked by the stretching Gabriel. He’s in John Terry mode, throwing himself in front of everything and everyone.
36 min Saka is barged over by Nuno Mendes, a needless foul that reflects PSG’s burgeoning frustration. Rice swings the free-kick into the box and Havertz is penalised for something or other.
35 min “A drinks break in 24C weather?!” sniffs Peter Oh. “The game’s gone. And in any case, the players are more Hungary than thirsty.”
