Paris Saint-Germain seized the advantage in its semi-final of the Champions League against Arsenal while Ousmane Dembele sealed a 1-0 victory on Tuesday in the first leg. Dembele struck in the first minutes of the Emirates Stadium and the Luis Enrique team kept the head with a compound display which kept arsenal remotely. PSG will go to the return match at the Parc des Princes on May 7 as a favorite to reach the final against Barcelona or Inter Milan as they seek to win the tournament for the first time. But the French champions should not hold anything for granted given their history of epic European collapses.
The first defeat of Arsenal in 18 European games at home was a painful blow for their own attempt to win a first crown of the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta had labeled the arsenal race with the semi-finals a “beautiful story”.
The last chapter could make a frustrating reading, but they are not dead and buried for the moment.
The Gunners had beaten the holders of Real Madrid 5-1 on Aggregate to reach their first semi-final of the Champions League since its loss against Manchester United in 2009.
They were unable to reproduce the boastful screen which led to Madrid 3-0 in the first leg, despite a frantic atmosphere when approaching the kick-off.
When the arsenal players gathered for a previous group in the tunnel, Declan Rice implored his teammates to give everything because he roars “if we do not have the ball, we die”.
A video message from Arteta played on Emirates screens struck an equally exciting agreement while the Spaniard has urged fans to lift the roof.
But PSG had already eliminated the champions of the Premier League Liverpool in the last 16 and Aston Villa in the quarter -final, after returning from two goals to beat Manchester City in the league phase.
Arsenal was the only English side that they had failed to conquer, losing 2-0 in northern London in October.
However, PSG was without lambele influential for disciplinary reasons on this occasion and Luis Enrique insisted that his team was “more complete” seven months.
– Outnined –
Dembele only took four minutes to prove the point when the Star of France began and finished a ruthless raid.
Taking possession in the central circle, Dembele worked the ball at Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and he led to Jurrien Timber with intention.
Dembele had continued its race in the arsenal area and the perfectly weighted pass of KVaratskhelia chose it for a clinical finish which came back.
Having taken the momentum, PSG opted for the Kill and Marquinhos got up to meet the Cross of Achraf Hakimi with a header that was simply too close to the Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya.
Kvaratskhelia had a strong penalty call moved away when the wood seemed to stop the attacker in the area with an arm around his chest.
Kvaratskhelia was not discouraged, forcing Raya to save after attacking the wood.
Dembele proved just as difficult to manage for Arsenal, its smart race and its passage reaching the Diry Doue for a low strike that Raya saved at full trunction.
Arsenal had been exceeded, but they should have equalized just before half-time when the sublime pass of Myles Lewis-Skelly found Gabriel Martinelli, whose shot was superbly saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Arsenal thought he had pulled two minutes in the second half when Mikel Merino returned home from Rice’s free kick, but their celebrations were premature when Var refused the goal of offside against the midfielder in Spain.
Arteta’s men had the momentum and Leandro Trossard was a few centimeters from the equalization when Rice’s pass sent him overflowing in the PSG zone for a shot that Donnarumma has brilliantly overthrown.
Feeling the change in the balance of powers, PSG sought to remove the sting from the game by playing at a slower pace.
The tactics almost worked perfection when Bradley Barcola penetrated, but with Raya to beat, he dragged his wide shot from the distant post.
It was a lack of unhappy, leaving Luis Enrique holding his head with disbelief.
The PSG coach was exactly in the same pose amazed a few moments later when Goncalo Ramos shot against the nearby bar.
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