UCL: Havertz and Saka goals sink a toothless PSG at the Emirates

Bukayo Saka celebrates after scoring a decisive second goal against PSG at the Emirates on Tuesday night to hand the Gunners a 2-0 victory. ...

Bukayo Saka celebrates after scoring a decisive second goal against PSG at the Emirates on Tuesday night to hand the Gunners a 2-0 victory. (Photo credit: BBC)


Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal inflicts the season’s first defeat on French champions PSG at the Emirates in the second group game of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night.

A clinical header from Kai Havertz and an unexpected free kick from stand-in captain Bukayo Saka gave the Gunners a two-goal lead in the first half, which proved enough to hand the home side their first win of the season in Europe this season.

The build-up to the game was dominated by news that French winger Ousman Dembele was out of PSG's matchday squad following an indiscipline charge against the player after the weekend game in the league, with the manager adamant that he (Dembele) won't be recalled until the matter is resolved.

The Spanish manager handed Desire Doue his first start in the Champions League, alongside Bradley Barcola and Lee Kang-In; it was Arsenal who started quickly off the blocks, with Bukayo Saka going close and Havertz drawing a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.

It didn’t take long for the game to drift away from the visitors. Havertz met a sleek Leandro Trossard cross with a precise header to give Arsenal a deserved lead. Nuno Mendes fired one narrowly wide of David Raya’s goal not long after, but it was Arsenal who scored the second.

England winger Saka chose to aim at the Italian goalkeeper with a sea of legs in front of him, obstructing his view of the ball as it sailed into the net, despite a seemingly harmless free kick to the Gunners.

Speaking after the game, Bukayo Saka believes this is Arsenal’s season: “I don’t want to put pressure on the team, but I do think this is our season to win the title; we have been second twice, and we want to go one further this season.”.

After the game, PSG coach Luis Henrique was critical of his side: "My feeling is that I am sad." Our level of play was insufficient, and they deserved to win. They scored two goals, and then they defended very toughly and deserved the victory.

"I know their team's intensity, how they play on and off the ball, and that they are at a very high level." There is no doubt that they are a top team. We are aware of the high standards they maintain. Arsenal’s next UCL game is against Shakhtar Donetsk at the Emirates.

Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Readmore Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS PREMIUM CONTENT IS LOCKED STEP 1: Share to a social network STEP 2: Click the link on your social network Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy Table of Content