Arsenal 2 - 0 Paris Saint-Germain FC - Match Report

Goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka saw us claim a big Champions League win against Paris Saint-Germain at Emirates Stadium.

The damage was done during the first half, with the German striker heading in a superb Leandro Trossard ball, before Saka saw a free-kick evade everyone and find the net.

The French champions were better after the break but despite hitting the goalframe twice during the contest, couldn’t find a way through our resolute defence as we comfortably collected the three points and move to 15 games unbeaten.

Just as we’d left it on Saturday, Emirates Stadium was bouncing ahead of kick-off as the Champions League theme blared through our home for the first time this season, and we were inspired right from the off.

Captain Saka came close with a trademark cut inside from the right before letting fly but saw his top-corner effort narrowly whistle over the woodwork, but after a solid opening 20 minutes, our positivity was rewarded with the opener.

Leandro Trossard picked the ball up on the halfway line and was allowed to bring it into the final third. Looking up, he spotted the run of Havertz and his pass was pinpoint, allowing the German to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma to it and head into the empty net to hand us the advantage.

PSG hadn’t beaten us in four previous meetings, and hadn’t got going up until that point but after falling behind their quality belatedly began to shine through.

Left-back Nuno Mendes took aim from the edge of the box and beat David Raya but saw his shot strike the base of the post, and fellow full-back Achraf Hakimi tested our shot-stopper with an effort from a tight angle that needed blocking.

But just as the Parisians were working through their gears, their attempted comeback stalled when we grabbed a second on 35 minutes. Saka won a free-kick on the right touchline which he whipped towards the near post towards Gabriel Martinelli and Thomas Partey. The pair threw themselves towards it but didn’t get a touch, but distracted Donnarumma who watched the delivery creep into his net.

The Italian shot-stopper did well to pluck the ball off Trossard’s toes after Saka slid a tempting pass across the face of goal soon after, but we went into the break with a healthy lead.

It was nearly even larger six minutes into the second 45 when Havertz played a lovely lofted pass into the path of Martinelli who connected with the volley, but his attempt was straight at Donnarumma - either side of the giant goalie and it would have been game over.

Just after the hour mark Gooners got their first sight of Mikel Merino in red and white as he came on for his debut, but the visitors were a better side after the break and began creating better chances. Joao Neves jabbed the ball against the crossbar following a corner, and Kan-in Lee tried his luck from 30 yards, forcing Raya to parry his swerving blast.

Martinelli had another chance to get on the scoresheet but hurried his effort which Donnarumma managed to get behind, but as the minutes ticked by we continued to batten down the hatches, and ultimately claimed another clean sheet, meaning for the first time since 2007 we began a Champions League campaign with back-to-back shutouts.

The result saw us move onto four points, and secure a huge win against one of the giants in the European game and almost certainly a rival to secure a spot in the top eight of the league phase when all is said and done in January.

We maintained our unbeaten record against PSG in major European competition (P5 W2 D3). We have only faced Sporting CP and Standard Liege (six times) more often without losing across all major European competitions.

We have kept 17 clean sheets in 32 games in all competitions in 2024, the most of any Premier League side. Indeed, across Europe’s big-five leagues this year, only Real Madrid have kept more (18).

Bukayo Saka has been directly involved in eight goals in six home  Champions League appearances (5 goals, 3 assists), with all five of his goals coming at Emirates Stadium. In Champions League history, only three players have more goals with all coming at one stadium – Diogo Rincon at NSK Olimpijs'kyj, Esteban Cambiasso at the San Siro and Lee Bowyer at Elland Road (six goals each).

Saka’s goal was our first direct free-kick goal in the  Champions League since November 2002, when Thierry Henry scored one against Roma. Tonight was their 144th match in the competition since then.

18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly became the youngest player to appear for us in the Champions League since three 17-year-olds – Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Gedion Zelalem and Stefan O’Connor – all featured against Galatasaray in December 2014.

Since beating Man Utd at Old Trafford in December 2020, PSG have lost all four of their away UEFA Champions League matches in England, losing twice to Man City and once apiece to Newcastle and Arsenal.

Southampton are the next visitors to N5 on Saturday for our final match before the international break. We return to action after that with a trip to Bournemouth on October 19, before hosting Shakhtar Donetsk on matchday three of the Champions League the following Tuesday.