PSV 2 Arsenal 0
In his haste to avoid two extra Europa League assignments, Mikel Arteta may now have to bring out the big guns for one more. He selected another strong team in the hope they would earn the point that guaranteed first place in Group A and progress straight to the round of 16 in March, but they flopped against a PSV Eindhoven side transformed by the half-time introduction of the former Newcastle and Barcelona striker Luuk De Jong. It was De Jong who capitalised on Aaron Ramsdale’s error to score the hosts’ second goal, eight minutes after he had teed up Joey Veerman to break the deadlock, and although Arteta threw the kitchen sink in response there was no way back.
The upshot is that Arsenal must beat FC Zürich, the group’s whipping boys, at the Emirates next Thursday if they are to be sure of finishing in top spot and avoiding an awkward playoff round in February. The Swiss team are weak at this level but it gives Arteta an unwelcome dilemma: he would surely have loved to play a scratch XI in that fixture, which comes three days before a visit to Chelsea, but may no longer feel he can afford the luxury.
This time around he opted to rest Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka, whose recent workloads have raised eyebrows externally, but still fielded a side peppered with senior players. William Saliba, Granit Xhaka, Martin Ødegaard and Gabriel Martinelli were among the starters; so, against expectation, was Ramsdale after Matt Turner injured his groin.
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The prospect of a rest in seven days’ time may have offered ample motivation. But PSV’s need was the more obvious and, in a scrappy start, that was occasionally evident. Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side had failed to impress in losing at the Emirates a week ago but looked bright on the break here. Xavi Simons, their only threat in the first game, forced Ramsdale to tip a 25-yard daisycutter wide; the vaunted Cody Gakpo, livelier this time, briefly thought he had opened the scoring with a deft finish but was correctly flagged offside.
Arsenal hogged possession without moving the ball quickly enough to create much. The positioning of Kieran Tierney, nominally the left-back but sometimes straying into a de facto centre-forward position, caught the eye but any element of surprise was not exploited. Their dedicated striker, Eddie Nketiah, drew an acrobatic save from Walter Benítez with a sharp near-post effort in a rare instance of penetration.
Nketiah had not helped matters with a string of sloppy touches, including a pass out of play deep inside his own half. Arteta’s frustration was visible and, judging by his demeanour, it applied to the tempo of his entire team. They should still have gone ahead in the 39th minute but Martinelli, unmarked after Takehiro Tomiyasu had bravely won a header, controlled on his chest before volleying wastefully over.
PSV were frustrated again when Simons, brushing off a weak Saliba challenge, bundled through to score but a lengthy VAR check found Anwar El Ghazi had strayed offside before chesting the ball into his path. Benítez then thwarted Ødegaard to ensure the half ended scoreless.
Nketiah and Tierney shot narrowly off target soon after the restart while Ramsdale made a double save from Simons and Veerman, although the video technology may have detected yet another offside if the latter move had brought a goal. Simons then beautifully released Gakpo for a shot that flew across the box and out for a throw-in.
Arsenal had the ball in their hands but, to Arteta’s frustration, conceded within seconds. Nketiah was beaten to Tierney’s throw and De Jong, who had already made an impact, lost Rob Holding before smartly teeing up Veerman for a first-time finish on the run.
It was the cue for Arteta to wheel out Saka and Thomas Partey, but neither could affect the powder-puff defensive effort that yielded a quick second for PSV. Ramsdale missed his punch from Gakpo’s left-sided corner, Holding having failed to connect when jumping alongside him, and the ball pinged off De Jong’s head into the vacant goal.
Jesus was next to join the salvage operation but Gakpo quickly saw another goal disallowed and De Jong, unmarked at the far post, headed wide at the far post when he should have scored. While Benítez made a brave late stop from Nketiah, PSV could celebrate their own progress to the knockouts. They can join Arsenal in eyeing a February break. - Guardian
