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Full-time: PSG 1-1 Arsenal
It’s a satisfying result for Arsenal after a ropey performance. Wenger’s decision to start with Ospina was vindicated, as the Colombia made several vital saves, helped, it is true, but bad finishing by Cavani. PSG will curse their flakiness around goal, while Arsenal will take heart from the fact that they came back when being outplayed. Another thing to note is that Giroud is very silly. He had a chance to endear himself to Arsenal fans here by giving his team the fulcrum they needed; but all he did was throw a dumb shape and get sent off.
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TWO RED CARDS!
Giroud and Verratti are dismissed for an off-the-ball kerfuffle. Giroud seemed to block a Verratti run, shouldering him to the ground. A stupid thing for Giroud to do when on a yellow but, really, it’s a sorry day when that’s deemed violent enough to warrant dismissal. Not sure what Verratti was judged to have done wrong.
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90+2 min: Motta booked brushing off Giroud with a hand to the face. You can’t expect to do that to the lovely Giroud and get away with it.
90 min: There will be at least four more minutes.
90 min: PSG win a corner and one last chance, perhaps. They take it short and faff about. Cazorla relieves them of the ball and clears.
88 min: Giroud booked for whinging.
86 min: Pastore dabs a cross towards Meunier, who gets above Monreal but cannot steer his header on target.
Arsenal substitution: Elneny on, Ozil off. Wenger doesn’t want to let a good point slip.
PSG substitution: Meunier on, Aurier off. Monreal exhales gratefully.
83 min: Ozil makes a shrewd run to create space for Iwobi to receive a past from Sanchez. Iwobi tries to curl a low shot into the far corner from 14 yards, Thierry Henry-style. Areola saves.
82 min: We’ve got a fun finale in store here: both teams seem to fancy a winner now.
80 min: Ospina saves/Cavani bungles again. The striker showed speed and strength to beat Koscielny to the ball and run clear through on goal again. Ospina ran out to meet hi and won the ball. Cavani collapsed theatrically but was never going to get a penalty.
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79 min: So then, will Arsenal go on to win and give Wenger the last laugh?
PSG substitution: Pastore on, Krychowiak off.
GOAL! PSG 1-1 Arsenal (Sanchez 78)
Arsenal make PSG pay! The visitors got plenty of players in the box for a chance, and Ozil picked out Iwobi with a clever pass from the left. Iwobi took a touch and walloped it at goal, but Areola made a good block. Sanchez pounced on the rebound and hammered it past a couple of defenders and into the net from 12 yards!
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75 min: Another promising Arsenal buildup founders as soon as they try to enter the PSG box. Giroud, it has to be said, has yet to make any difference. But thanks to PSG’s wastefulness, Arsenal may just have to get one attack right to salvage a point from this ordeal.
PSG substitution: Motta on, Rabiot off
71 min: Ospina to the rescue once more! This time, however, he was at the origin of the chance, as his slack pass put Koscielny in trouble and allowed PSG to win possession on the edge of the box. The keeper atoned by pushing Di Maria’s shot over the bar.
Arsenal substitution: Xhaka on, Coquelin off. How come none of you thought of that?
69 min: Ospina saves Arsenal again! Or, if you prefer, Cavani misses another sitter. Again the chance came from a combination of slick PSG passing and muddled Arsenal defending. When Cavani ran through on goal he tried to slot it under Ospina, but the keeper read it and saved well with his feet.
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68 min: Aurier returns ... and nearly celebrates that fact by scoring. He exchanged a lovely one-two with Di Maria to cut the Arsenal defence open. Ospina did well to charge off his line and smother the shot.
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66 min: Aurier hurts his ankle as he lands following a header. Arsenal play on while he receives treatment.
Arsenal substitution: Here comes Giroud, on for Oxlade-Chamberlain. Will PSG be made to regret failing to capitalise on their superiority so far?
63 min: Encouragement for Arsenal. After a decent ove, Sanchez slipped a ball into the box for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who, for once, had made a dangerous run in anticipation of just that sort of delivery. Unfortunately he was unable to get off a good shot on the run and under pressure from a defender, so Areola had an easy save.
62 min: Bellerin does well to throw himself in front of a cross by Aurier and clear it off the feet of Matuidi.
61 min: In this group’s other match, Ludogorets are currently winning 1-0 in Basel, so that’s who Arsenal will be vying with for a second place.
59 min: Aurier - who is always free - races behind Oxlade-Chamberlain to receive a clipped pass. His first touch is hefty and forces him to slide in an attempt to get in a cross. He fires it into the sidenetting.
57 min: Arsenal’s second-half vim has faded. PSG are back in control, although not looking as polished as in the first half. A lot of errant passing by both sides. “If you were expecting changes you seem to have mistaken half time for the 70th minute,” quips Gavin O’Reilly. You’re right, I forgot: best wait until it’s 2-0 before throwing on a striker, making it 2-1 and clinching a valiant narrow defeat.
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54 min: Di Maria dashes beyond the last Arsenal defender to collect a lofted pass from deep. Bellerin scampers back after him but the Argentinian is bearing down on goal ... but he takes a heavy touch, kneeing the bouncing ball too far in front of him, and then throws himself to the ground. The ref is having none of it.
53 min: The game has entered a sloppy spell, with both sides coughing up possession too easily.
51 min: Arsenal have had most of the ball this period, with PSG seemingly content to draw them on and hope to hit on the counter.
49 min: Ozil tries to pick out Coquelin, who had burst from deep into the PSG box because someone had to. Rabiot went with him and headed clear.
47 min: Arsenal make a bright start, insofar as they string together a load of passes around the PSG box. But as soon as they try to put the ball in there, PSG win it.
46 min: No personnel changes. Arsenal intend to carry on regardless. Wenger, it seems, intends to prove everyone wrong ...
Asked by Gary Lineker on BT what Wenger is like in the dressing room when things are going wrong for his team, an exasperated-sounding Ian Wright says: “He’s very calm .. he doesn’t say a word for the first 10 minutes.”
Here’s Angus Macaskill with the case for Wenger: “The team shape isn’t that bad, Wenger’s rationale being to use the speedy front three to counter quickly. The problem is Arsenal can’t get Cazorla and Ozil on the ball enough so can’t build attacks. Put Elneny on for Coquelin to get more control on the ball our from the back and use Elneny’s movement to create more space fro Cazorla.” Irrespective of shape, they’ll not get more control so long as they’re slower and weaker than their opponents. Let’s start with that.
A replay of the PSG goal confirms how much of a mess it was from an Arsenal viewpoint: every Arsenal defender did exactly the wrong thing before Cavani scored. On the plus side, that sort of defensive ineptitude may have made Cavani complacent and caused him to bungle two even better chances later in the half.
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“Reading the MBM from San Diego, thanks for the wry commentary.” ingratiates Jim Dunker. I am flummoxed at putting Oxlade-Chamberlain & Iwobi in the starting line-up, with Coquelin in midfield. After watching the ham-handed game on Saturday, a logical observer would think they rested Sanchez, Giroud & Xhaka then to start today, which is only a third right, and still mind boggling!”
Half-time: PSG 1-0 Arsenal
It’s been a no-show by Arsenal, and they’re lucky not to be out of the game. PSG have been far superior all over the pitch, especially in central midfield and on the right, where Aurier is a constant threat. If Cavani had been cooler, he’s have had a hat-trick by now. Arsenal have no one up front but being outnumbered and outplayed in midfield. It’s both a systemic and personnel failure and no proper manager can allow this to continue. It’ll be staggering if Wenger doesn’t make changes during the break.
42 min: A soft-shoe shuffle takes Verratti past Cazorla and brings cheers from the crowd. The Italian then offloads to Di Maria, who clips a lovely pass from deep to Cavani, who has beaten the offside trap and is face to face with Ospina, eight yards out! He takes the ball on his chest .... and falls over, kicking the air as he goes down. No danger in that, and no dignity. Another let-off for Arsenal, who could easily be three down. Wenger should have made a change by now: his pre-match plan is very obviously failing.
40 min: Arsenal have a bout of possession near the PSG box. Unable to break through, Coquelin eventually essays a dinked cross from the left. Oxlade-Chamberain, alone amid three defenders, was never going to make it look good.
38 min: Aurier, unaware that he was under no pressure at the back post, heads a looping cross from Bellerin behind for a corner. Which comes to nothing.
36 min: Another corner to PSG, after a long and varied buildup. They’re schooling Arsenal at the moment.
34 min: What a miss! What sweet mercy for Arsenal! Verratti sent a teasing low pass through from deep. An Arsenal defender got a touch to it and Ospina hared off his line to clear. But Cavani beat him to the ball but had an open goal from 18 yards ... but he was off-balance and skewed the ball wide with his left foot!
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33 min: Aurier and Verratti combine slickly before teeing up Di Maria. He fakes a shot before slipping the ball wide to Maxwell, who tries to ping in a first-time cross. Bellerin puts it out for a corner.
30 min: Sanchez gets up a gallop down the right. He looks up and see two team-mates in the box, along with four opponents. He tries to float a cross towards Ozil. Krychowiak helps himself to it.
28 min: Aurier, who’s unstoppable down the right, delivers another wicked cross. It puts Mustafi in difficulty and it’s all he can do to shank it over the bar from eight yards. Arsenal clear the corner.
27 min: Better from Arsenal. A snappy move started by Iwobi ends with Bellerin’s cross being put behind for a corner. The keeper charges into a clump of jumping bodies and punches it well clear.
25 min: Giroud is warming up. There’s a strong case for throwing him on. Arsenal are finding space down the wings but have no one to cross to at the moment.
23 min: Arsenal apply pressure through a couple of corners. Will set-pieces e the English team’s route back into the game? Not this time, as Mustafi meets Cazorla’s delivery but can’t direct his header on target.
21 min: The most damning fact about this start has been that PSG look fitter and stronger than Arsenal. On the rare occasions when they don’t get to the ball first, it doesn’t matter - because they just shunt Arsenal off it.
19 min: Ospina has evidently been using his time on the bench to keep abreast of the latest trends: he’s just hurtled out of his box to intercept a long pass intended for Cavani, like a top sweeper-keeper.
17 min: PSG are bossing midfield. Arsenal are running after them like autograph hunters.
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15 min: Sanchez tries to wriggle his way into the PSG box. Marquinhos sticks out a leg and pokes the ball off his foot, but it falls to Iwobi, who lets fly from 20 yards. His shot is deflected behind for a corner. The corner is wasted.
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13 min: Di Maria gets vicious curl on a corner to make it turn dangerously inward towards goal. Ospina reacts smartly to push it over the bar with one hand.
12 min: PSG are making Arsenal look very sluggish. They’re passing quicker than the visitors can close down. The latest burst ends with an Aurier cross being put behind for a corner by Monreal.
10 min: PSG play their way beautifully through Arsenal, all zippy passes and rapid movement. Di Maria crowns it with a backheeled through-ball to Rabiot, whose shot on the run from 15 yards is blocked by the backtracking Koscielny.
8 min: Verratti booked for careering into Coquelin just inside the PSG half. Cazorla tries to send the freekick into the area, but it doesn’t beat the first man, Maxwell.
6 min: Di Maria swings a corner towards the far post. Bellerin appears to nod it behind for another one, but the officials saw no touch and award a goalkick. Arsenal’s luck is turning ... but perhaps not as much as Raymond Reardon hopes: “Is there any chance the storms that have postponed Manchester City’s match could arrive in Paris to postpone Arsenal’s match?”
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4 min: Arsenal have put together some passes in the last couple of minutes, but all in front of PSG, who are quite happy to retreat and watch them. With Sanchez coming deep to join in the buildup, there’s no fulcrum up front. It’s going to take something exquisite for Arsenal to break through.
3 min: Wenger said that he chose his team to “stop PSG from playing”. Given that that ploy went out the window after 42 seconds, will he see an early Mourinho or Koeman-style substitution?
GOAL! PSG 1-0 Arsenal (Cavani 42 seconds)
What a start! Verratti released Aurier down the right. He dashed past Monreal and curled in a fine cross. Cavani met it at the near post with a splendid header into the far corner. Nothing Ospina could do about it: he was abandoned by his defence, who apparently hadn’t read the big banner held aloft beforehand by PSG fans.
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1 min: WE have kick-off!
The teams gather in the tunnel. Actually, it’s more of a five-star vestibule. Then they saunter out into the arena, where they are greeted by massive noise and a huge banner in PSG colours reading “it’s starting now”. I wonder how many more similar banners they have. Will there be one later saying “15 minutes gone” or “half-time is approaching”?
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“I think he’s picked a team specifically to wind people up,” reckons Tom Atkins. “That level of stubborn, self-destructive bloody mindedness reminds me of Cantona in his pomp. He clearly doesn’t give a flying one what you, I or anyone else thinks. I think I love him for it.”
Although I know you’re right that he, like most people, doesn’t care what I think, I’m going to tell you anyway: I think it’s a great decision. Ospina is a fine goalkeeper who is accustomed to playing under pressure: he is barely more likely than Cech to make another costly mistake tonight. If he contributes to an Arsenal victory, he will have definitively put last season’s mishap behind him and everyone can move on happier and stronger. I concede that throwing in a new goalkeeper at the same time as a new centreback, Mustafi, is ballsy.
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Wenger explains himself
Speaking to BT, the Arsenal manager says: “I just want to play a team that can perform. They made some changes to adapt to us and we’ve made some changes to stop them playing. So it’s not a massive surprise.” Regarding the selection of Ospina, he says: “I have two world-class goalkeepers. We analysed well last season and this season and I’ve decided to play him tonight.”
The battle for supremacy in central midfield promises to be interesting. Looks to me like PSG are significantly stronger there. Rabiot and, in particular, Krychowiak have real power and dynamism, while Verratti, of course, is wonderfully deft schemer.
@Paul_Doyle Why in the name of our Lord and saviour is Sanchez starting up front. There are TWO fully fit ACTUAL forwards on the bench!!?
— Mark Daniel Kerry (@MarkDanielKerry) September 13, 2016
As for the PSG lineup, it looks like Matuidi will start wide on the wing. The French media had said that Emery was considering that ploy in a bid to stifle Sanchez. Guess Emery didn’t foresee Sanchez starting as a central striker/electric nomad.
Arsenal have trotted out on the Parc des Princes pitch to begin their warm-up. They’re greeted by loud boos, presumably from PSG fans, or maybe the travelling supporters are giving their thoughts on Wenger’s team selection.
@guardian_sport @Paul_Doyle what is he smiling at? Picking a joke team?
— Fraz Tha Gooner (@frazthegooner) September 13, 2016
Theo Walcott, by the way, is said to have been ruled out by a minor injury. Olivier Giroud and Lucas Perez have been left out because Wenger is essaying an amorphous attack that will bamboozle PSG or ensure all Arsenal’s attack fizzle out before reaching the box.
You have to admire Arsène Wenger’s faith that one day the world will work the way he wants it to.
The lineups have arrived (below) and, my, they contain some surprises. First and foremost, David Ospina is starting in goal for Arsenal! It’ll be his first club start of the season and, unless Petr Cech is injured (but not seriously enough to prevent him sitting on the bench), represents a demonstration of Wenger’s belief in his players/incorrigible stubbornness. He was lambasted at this stage last season for playing Opsina ahead of Cech against Olympiakos and he insisted back then, after an embarrassing defeat, that the criticism was unfair: Ospina made mistakes but, said Wenger, that could have happened to anyone and did not mean the decision to pick him was flawed. To prove his point, he’s picked Ospina again here. Let’s hope the Colombian does not suffer in Paris the way that Arsenal keepers (Seaman and Lehmann) have done previously. Otherwise the rage of Arsenal fans will break the internet.
Preamble:
Hello and welcome. We are gathered here today to witness the start of the latest Champions League adventure of Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain and to look for signs that this one won’t end the same way as all the others. These teams have never met in the tournament before but share a slightly similar relationship with it, insofar as both regular participants and serial flops. But let’s not give up on them because they’re both very entertaining, for the reason just mentioned as well as for their style of play.
Mind you, neither sides’ style of play has been particularly swish so far this season, as both have yet to hit a groove. Umai Emery, the manager whom PSG lured from Sevilla in the summer to replace Laurent Blanc, has endured a difficult start to his reign. The team have looked like they’re caught between two stools (or like one big steaming stool, if you want to be harsh about it) and that’s not acceptable for a team of their resources and ambitions, as Marco Verratti confirmed in yesterday’s press conference when he said: “I don’t play for a club that does transitions”. One big victory would do Emery and PSG a power of good right now.
Pretty much the same thing, of course, goes for Arsenal. Win in Paris, their strongest rivals, and Arsenal will have raised hope that they are not about to repeat the mistakes of previous seasons and are ready and able to seize every opportunity rather than fritter it away. And Arsenal fans will be able to recall a trip to Paris for happier reasons than Nayim’s lob and Jen Lehmann’s foul.
Teams:
PSG: Areola; Aurier, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Maxwell; Verratti, Krychowiak, Rabiot; Di Maria, Cavani, Matuidi
Subs: Trapp, Kimpembe, Moura, Motta, Pastore, Meunier, Jesé
Arsenal: Ospina; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Cazorla, Coquelin; Iwobi, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Sanchez
Subs: Cech, Holding, Gibbs, Xhaka, Elneny, Lucas, Giroud
Referee: V Kassai (Hun)
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