We expected a cagey game and that’s what we got at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven last night.
Rosicky had a couple of shots, Henry had several, keeper Gomes made two good saves, Kone scuffed a chance wide.
The contest was mostly sparring- and then PSV scored the best goal of Champions League Tuesday with a thunderous right-foot shot from 25 yards by Peruvian Edison Mendez that flew beyond Jens Lehmann’s dive and finished in the bottom corner.
The goal is 24 feet wide and when the ball is travelling at that velocity it’s almost impossible for any keeper to reach it.
61 minutes, 1-0 to PSV
I ended my night on ITV4 thinking I’d watched the wrong game. There were four matches and only seven goals -and five of those came in Madrid.
Raul and Lucio scored from corners, Giggs scored from a free-kick, Raul dribbled round round Kahn to score the first of his two goals, van Nistelrooy stabbed in from Beckham’s free-kick, and Mark van Bommel made it 3-2 with a typical shot from outside the box.
But the best goal was by PSV because Mendez started a move of six passes and finished it with a scorching shot into the bottom corner.
That goal sets up a dramatic night at the Emirates on Wednesday March 7.
I’ve said that the Emirates needs big nights and big memories. The stadium is new and needs instant history in its first season. But now its first season could end on March 7.
Mostly, I wasn’t surprised. I expected a sparring session between two possession teams and that’s what we saw.
Arsenal had more possession but didn’t score.The game did not suit Adebayor, who looked like a novice. I said it would be less than 2.5 goals and it looks like the second leg will be less than 2.5 as well.
Ronald Koeman had talked about a 0-0 draw being a good result and with his keeper Gomes making a couple of excellent saves, that’s the way it was going until a Peruvian produced a wonderstrike to win it.
Such games are massive for the hungry underdogs of the so-called Champions League, the Lilles and PSVs of this world.
After a 0-0 last night, Strachan’s Celtic can go to the San Siro knowing that a 1-1 draw will put them through against AC Milan.
Milan showed their class, even last night, so I don’t believe Celtic can draw that game 1-1. But stranger things have happened in the whacky world of football.
LILLE were very athletic and fast against Manchester United but they lost 1-0 to a controversial Ryan Giggs free-kick.
Bottom line, I think United were a bit more streetwise.They did nothing wrong. Rooney placed the ball, giving Giggs a chance for a cheeky goal, a free-kick lifted over the wall when the keeper was not ready. The goal looked rehearsed, practiced, not a one-off, not a fluke. Rooney placed the ball with both hands like a rugby player setting up a conversion.
The Dutch referee Eric Baamaar made a very good spot when he saw the push by striker Peter Odemwingie on Vidic and disallowed his header for 1-0.
United did not complain about the push and, crucially, Odemwingie did not throw a wobbly when his goal was disallowed.
He knew he had pushed Vidic in the back with both hands and he hoped the ref had not seen it, since it was a subtle push as two players lunged forward in the goalmouth, trying to reach a cross from the left. I didn’t think Vidic would have got the ball anyway, even if he had not been pushed.
A two-handed push allowed Odemwingie to keep his own balance as the ball arrived, while minimising arm movements that many referees would not have seen. If he had pushed Vidic harder, or sooner, he would have unbalanced himself and missed the ball.
Real Madrid beat Bayern 3-2 and showed me that they have more than one goalscorer. So I was wrong about that. Raul, a passenger for two years or more, might not be finished.
Beckham was very good for the first hour, then faded.
WHAT DID LAST NIGHT TELL US ?
Only that the Champions League is much harder than the Premiership.
England’s big teams coast along through December, January and February, beating Charlton, Bolton, Blackburn, West Ham and Watford, and then in the third week of February, they get a reality check. They play smarter teams from the continent, coached by shrewd tacticians like Ronald Koeman and Claude Puel, and they struggle.
The Round of 16 is another proposition. It’s a different kind of football and it’s hard to adapt. The Premiership big boys find they are not in charge any more, so every game is an experiment. Every game is a journey into the unknown.
Lille had no goal threat but they still gave Man United a difficult game. Lille are better than Bolton or Blackburn. If they were in the Premier League they would be fifth. They are very tenacious, like Seville in Spain
And Lille would give Arsenal a very difficult game.
PSV EINDHOVEN (4-3-1-2): Gomes; Kromkamp, Alex, De Costa (Sun Xiang, 65), Salcido; Mendez, Culina, Cocu; Simons; Diego Tardelli (Vayrynen, 74), Kone.
Subs not used: Moens (gk), Addo, Feher.
ARSENAL (4-4-2): Lehmann; Gallas, Touré, Senderos, Clichy; Hleb (Baptista, 74), Gilberto Silva, Fabregas, Rosicky; Henry, Adebayor.
Subs not used: Almunia (gk), Ljungberg, Denilson, Flamini, Djourou, Aliadière.