PSV Eindhoven (0) 1 Arsenal (1) 1
Champions League Group B, Matchday 6 of 6
Phillips Stadion, Frederiklaan 10a Eindhoven, Netherlands
Tuesday, 12th December 2023. Kick-off time: 5.45pm
(4-3-3) Aaron Ramsdale; Cédric Soares, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Jakob Kiwior; Mohamed Elneny, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho (c), Leandro Trossard; Kai Havertz, Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson.
Substitutes: Ben White, Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith-Rowe, David Raya, Karl Hein, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Declan Rice, Ethan Nwaneri, Reuell Walters.
Scorers: Eddie Nketiah (42 mins)
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 58%
Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany)
Assistant Referees: Christian Gittelmann (Germany), Mark Borsch (Germany)
Fourth Official: Martin Petersen (Germany)
UEFA Referee Observer: Michael Ross (Northern Ireland)
UEFA VAR Team in Geneva: VAR Christian Dingert (Germany); AVAR Tiago Martins (Portugal)
Attendance: c.35,000
Mikel Arteta has certainly rung the changes from the team which lost at Aston Villa last Saturday evening. The centre backs William Saliba and Gabriel, along with forward Kai Havertz, are the only men to keep their places. Amongst the eight changes for tonight’s game include goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, whilst Emile Smith-Rowe is on the substitute’s bench and could make his first appearance in two months.
We kicked off this final match in Group B tonight, and although it was a very slow start, it was a fairly positive one. Mohamed Elneny tried to slide the ball through to Eddie Nketiah on the right wing but it was well intercepted by a PSV defender, and then as a reminder just how dangerous the opposition can be, as the ball came across into our penalty area, Ismael Saibari had a good chance to open the scoring, but Gabriel denied him fortunately.
A few minutes later, Leandro Trossard took our first corner from the right and played the ball short towards Eddie Nketiah but it was cut out by an alert PSV player. After Reiss Nelson tried to play a one-two with Eddie Nketiah on the edge of the PSV penalty area, which was well defended, and we then won a free kick as Jordan Teze pulled back Leandro Trossard, but sadly the spot kick went nowhere.
The home side started to pressurise us in various areas of the pitch, and although we managed to hold them, they looked very dangerous as they moved around with and without the ball.
At the other end, Eddie Nketiah spun beautifully on the edge of the penalty area and laid it off to Leandro Trossard on the left, who flicked it in towards the back post but it was just out of reach for Kai Havertz.
On the half hour, Mohamed Elneny drilled a great shot towards the bottom left hand corner; the goalie Walter Benítez was beaten all the way but it bounced off the post and out for a goal kick. So close!
Finally, with three minutes of the half remaining, Eddie Nketiah took one touch to control a pass across the edge of the penalty area; he let it come across his body and his second touch was a superb strike into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
Although the home side came back at us during the injury time period, we managed to go into the break one goal to the good.
The home side got us underway for the second half this evening, and within the first two minutes, they came at us quite strongly, and although the effort was neutralised by Gabriel, it served as a lesson for us to be always alert for danger.
Two minutes later, sure enough, they grabbed the equaliser through a clever shot from Yorbe Vertessen after a quick raid on our defence.
The match started to settle down a bit with both sides looking for gaps in each other’s midfield and defence. PSV won a corner, as William Saliba headed behind a cross from Armando Obispo, but Patrick Van Aanholt’s resulting strike went straight into a wall of our defenders, and went nowhere, thankfully.
On the hour, Cédric Soares curled one in towards the back post but it came off Eddie Nketiah’s chest and bounced wide. Cédric Soares, William Saliba and Mohamed Elneny (who looks like he had a hamstring injury) were replaced by Ben White, Declan Rice and Martin Ødegaard, just before an unfortunate collision between Kai Havertz and Eddie Nketiah flattened the latter, and he had to receive medical attention as a result.
A great chance by Reiss Nelson hit the side netting and almost immediately at the other end, a shot by Ismael Saibari hit Aaron Ramsdale’s right hand post and bounced back into play, only to be cleared by Gabriel, confidently.
Eddie Nketiah had a great chance to score, but Patrick van Aanholt robbed him of the chance, and in our defence, Declan Rice was working as a centre back clearing balls and tackling strikers in order to stop any chance of a quick goal by the opposition, who were testing our defence constantly, although Jakob Kiwior has been instrumental in stopping any further goals.
Jakub Kiwior got the ball in the net from a Martin Ødegaard free-kick, but it was cancelled out by the VAR team for offside.
With three minutes of the match remaining, Kai Havertz and Reiss Nelson were replaced by Gabriel Jesus and Emile Smith-Rowe, and shortly afterwards, Gabriel missed the ball and it rolled through to Guus Til, who only had Aaron Ramsdale to beat but the angle was tight and he dragged the shot wide of the far post, thankfully.
In the six minutes of injury time, Aaron Ramsdale made a great save from Mauro Júnior and we almost grabbed the winner right at the end of the game when Leandro Trossard’s shot from close range was palmed away before the rebound shot by Jakub Kiwior flew over the bar; the referee blew his whistle to finish the match shortly afterwards, and overall, both sides were happy with a draw here at the Phillips Stadion tonight.
The good thing is that we still finished top of Group B, and face one of the other seven runners-up in the next round (despite the draw), and as such go into the knockout stages in a dominant position, and although there was nothing in tonight’s game for either side really, both teams made a decent fist of things.
Although there was a lot of changes in the side, which was to be expected, overall, it was a satisfying performance and score, all things considered, it was a fair result.
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions.
Stick with the winners. Our next match: Brighton and Hove Albion at the Emirates on Sunday, 17th December at 2.00pm(Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 