Paris Saint-Germain 1 Lucky Arsenal 1
Never rated Edinson Cavani.
A rangy power player with determination but little finesse.
Arsenal managed to concede in 40 seconds.
Last season I admired the athleticism of PSG and they wasted no time with a spurt down the flank by Aurier, whose cross to the near post was met by Cavani’s glancing header, which bounced down inside the far post, giving Ospina no chance.
42 seconds played: 1-0 to PSG.
After that Cavani should have scored four goals.
But lucky Arsenal, let off the hook, played well in the second half.
In 77, Ozil cut a brilliant ball back from the left and Iwobi responded by killing the ball with one foot and fired a shot with the other.
Keeper Areola made a good reflex save but the rebound broke to Alexis Sanchez, whose explosive shot bounced and flew into the back of the net.
1-1 with 13 minutes to go.
Verratti had been booked for a foul on Coquelin and the tough-tackling Italian tangled with sub Giroud in 90+4 and the ref sent both players off. I don’t know why he sent them off.
VERDICT : If Cavani’s feet were as good as his head, Arsenal would have lost 4-0.
They played their way back into the game and eventually scored with their first shot on target in 77.
Letter from Michael Budgen:
“Arsenal are one of the Top 16 clubs in Europe because they know how to navigate the Group Stage”
No, Arsenal are one of the top 16 teams in Europe, and always will be, simply because Arsene Wenger arrived in 96 and put us there.