Key events
Trossard eases Marquinhos off the ball on the left wing, moves forward and crosses towards the near post. It’s half blocked but runs perfectly for Saka to slide into the empty net. Marquinhos wanted a free-kick for the challenge by Trossard; replays show he was trying it on.
GOAL! PSG 2-1 Arsenal (agg: 3-1; Saka 76)
If ever a man deserved a goal.
74 min: PSG substitution Lucas Hernandez for Desire Doue.
Achraf Hakimi has put PSG into the Champions League final! Kvaratskhelia’s cutback went straight to Partey on the edge of the area, but he dithered and was robbed by Hakimi. He played a quick one-two and shaped a sweet right-foot shot into the far corner from 15 yards. Lovely finish.
GOAL! PSG 2-0 Arsenal (agg: 3-0; Hakimi 72)
It’s all over now, baby blue.
70 min: PSG substitution Ousmane Dembele is on for Bradley Barcola. That means Doue will move to the right wing.
DAVID RAYA SAVES THE PENALTY!
69 min: PSG 1-0 Arsenal (agg: 2-0) It was a stinker of a penalty, the kind of softly struck shot that relies entirely on the keeper going the wrong way. Raya didn’t; he waited, waited some more and then plunged to his left to push it round the post.
69 min: Double Arsenal substitution Trossard and Calafiori for Martinelli and Lewis-Skelly.
Now, Vitinha is over the penalty…
PENALTY TO PSG!
67 min Under the laws, I guess it’s fair enough – and PSG suffered on this ground against Man Utd in 2019-20 – but to anyone who has played football, that’s just nonsense. I don’t think anybody appealed. Play certainly continued and then suddenly the referee was running over to the monitor.
66 min: VAR check for a PSG penalty! What’s happened here? I think this will be given. Hakimi’s shot brushed the fingertips of Lewis-Skelly, who was trying to block and twisted his body into an odd position. His right arm was outstretched and that usually means trouble for a defender.
Wonderful save from Donnarumma!
64 min Saka, on the right edge of the area, cut inside and curled a trademark curler towards the far top corner. It was perfectly weighted, heading for the postage stamp, but Donnarumma strained every sinew to fingertip it over the bar. He’s not a goalkeeper, he’s Inspector Gadget.
Given the Euro 2021 final, not to mention this tie, Saka must wonder what he has to do to score past Donnarumma.
62 min “That United v Newcastle FA Cup tie, featuring Jim Leighton, Roy Aitken, Mark McGhee and another typical Brian McClair finish, practically falling over as he sclaffed the ball into the net,” says Simon McMahon. “I liked him a lot as a player, and I’m not sure how long the Puskas Award has been around, but I doubt whether he would have made many shortlists. Or Mick Quinn either. A goals a goal, though, beautiful or not.”
You wash your mouth out this instant.
60 min Saka continues to ooze moral courage, demanding the ball and running at the defender every single time he gets it. He’s fouled, which means a free-kick on the right wing to be taken by Odegaard. Donnarumma comes through the crowd and gets good distance on his punch.
59 min Saka’s dangerous inswinger is headed across goal and wide by Timber, who got to the ball in front of Donnarumma at the near post. That was half a chance.
58 min Saka curls the corner right under the crossbar and Donnarumma punches it over the bar for another.
57 min Saka’s shot from the angle is deflected behind by Nuno Mendes. Saka runs across to attend to business…
56 min Vitinha shows ridiculously good footwork to beat Timber and Partey on the byline in the area. His cross takes a deflection and is claimed by Raya, but that run will be coming to a meme near you soon. Meme, is that what they’re called?
56 min Lewis-Skelly, who like Nuno Mendes has looked more vulnerable than in the first leg, brings down Barcola and is booked.
54 min Nuno Mendes turns the tables on Saka for the first time in a while, charging down the left before pushing the ball infield to Doue. He faces up Kiwior and tries to surprise Raya with an early sidefoot across goal. He gets too much on it and it goes well wide.
53 min PSG have made a more assured start to the second half than they did the first. Arsenal need something to change the mood: a near miss, a four-minute hat-trick from Jurrien Timber.
50 min Saka’s okay.
49 min Saka stays down after a challenge from Nuno Mendes. The referee doesn’t give a foul; not sure why upon seeing a replay. This, by a distance, is the most uncomfortable I’ve seen Nuno Mendes look.
48 min PSG break dangerously down the right… until Saliba smooths across to take the ball off Barcola with the minimum of fuss. Regal defending.
48 min How should we describe Fabian Ruiz’s goal? It wasn’t a volley, because it bounced, and he didn’t catch it on the half-volley either. But if you just call it a shot you don’t convey the fact it was bouncing when he hit it. Quarter-volley? I know it sounds a bit velocista but I can’t think of a better alternative.
47 min “I would truly loved to have seen Big Micky Quinn in the Champions League,” says Tim Woods. “The archetypal ‘fox in the box’, he’d have shown these modern types the folly of trying to play it out from the back.”
He’d have made Arsenal even more dangerous from corners as well. A clear and obvious foul? I don’t think so.
46 min Peep peep! Arsenal begin the second half; no substitutions on either side.
On Fabian Ruiz’s goal, the deflection off Saliba was bigger than I realised at the time. It’s hard to be certain but, looking at it now, I suspect David Raya would have been able to push it over the bar had it not deviated.
Half-time reading
Arsenal have some very good attacking options on the bench, including Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri. But in view of Declan Rice’s pre-match comments, Peadar de Burca has a more leftfield suggestion.
Half time: Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 Arsenal (agg: 2-0)
A pulsating first half in the Parc des Princes. Arsenal started with ferocious intent and would have taken the lead on the night but for the brilliance of Gianluigi Donnarumma. PSG, who were pummelled for the first 15 minutes, started to look menacing on the break and the last half hour was an end-to-end thriller.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia hit the post, Fabian Ruiz walloped PSG into a 2-0 aggregate lead and Bradley Barcola looked set to make it 3-0 until Declan Rice made a vital tackle. At the other end Bukayo Saka had Nuno Mendes on toast and put in a series of inviting low crosses. The invitations, alas, were not accepted.
45+1 min Another inviting low cross from Saka is booted clear by Hakimi, six yards out at the far post. Just sayin’: Mick Quinn would have put that away.
44 min Doue, who has been scintillating on the break, beats Kiwior through sleight of hip and whacks a shot from the edge of the area that is blocked by Lewis-Skelly and knocks him off his feet.
42 min Saka runs at Mendes, moves infield and slides a dangerous low cross that is missed by Merino at the near post. Half a chance at best. But Saka is the biggest threat and is giving Nuno Mendes a seriously difficult night.
By the way it looks like Fabian Ruiz’s goal took a slight deflection off Saliba. I’m not sure Raya would have saved it without the deflection though.
40 min Lewis-Skelly is robbed by Joao Neves just outside the area. He finds Doue, whose speculative backheel deflects across the face of goal and is cleared by Timber.
38 min Kvaratskhelia somehow wriggles through a crowd of Arsenal players in the area. Saliba comes across to make a crucial clearance.
This is brilliant. The tempo and intensity are really something.
37 min Martinelli’s deep cross is headed away as far as Timber, whose sizzling volley from 15 yards is blocked by Kvaratskhelia. No idea whether it was on target but Timber caught it on the sweet spot.
36 min Saka goes on another dangerous run before playing the ball back outside to Rice. His cross is cut out but that was another good break from Saka, who has been much more influential than in the first leg.
34 min Arsenal continue to dominate possession; the difference is that PSG are now carrying an enormous threat on the break. At the risk of demonstrating an expertise in the Bleedin’ Obvious, Arsenal can’t concede the next goal.
32 min: Good effort by Merino. A cross from the right is headed down by Rice towards Merino, 15 yards out. He hooks the bouncing ball towards goal and only a few yards wide of the far post. That was a really clever effort.
32 min I think Rice did get the last touch on that shot. It looked like Barcola was shaping to place the ball across goal when Rice barrelled into the challenge and pushed it towards the other side of the game. Raya made a good save but it was also a great challenge from Rice.
30 min: Vital save by Raya! This is such good fun. PSG break two on two, with Kvaratskhelia on the ball. He plays it across to Barcola, who sits a defender down and drives a low left-foot shot that is superbly saved to his left by Raya. In fact the last touch might have come from Rice, who charged back and make a desperate lunging tackle. Even if he didn’t touch the ball – I haven’t seen a replay yet – his presence meant Barcola had to take the shot more quickly than he would have liked.
29 min That’s a bad moment for Declan Rice, whose heavy touch was read by Kvaratskhelia and ultimately led to the goal.
Vitinha’s free-kick was headed away to the edge of the area by the backpedalling Partey. Fabian Ruiz chested the ball cleverly across Martinelli, waited for it to bounce and leathered a left-foot shot into the corner. That’s a spectaculargoal, apparently his first in European football.
GOAL! Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 Arsenal (agg: 2-0; Fabian Ruiz 27)
Fabian Ruiz has smashed PSG in front!
26 min Rice is booked for a late tackle on Kvaratskhelia, who read the play really well and nicked the ball off Rice. PSG have a free-kick just outside the area in line with the left edge…
23 min: Chance for Doue! This is great entertainment. Saliba plays a loose square pass on the halfway line that is nicked by Barcola. PSG have a two-on-two break and he finds Doue on the edge of the D. Saliba does well to hold him up and eventually Doue shoots tamely straight at Raya.
22 min Rice’s corner is headed away to the edge of the area, where Odegaard is lining up a volley until Doue pokes the ball away to relative safety. Good defending.
21 min A smooth run through midfield from Odegaard, who looks sharp tonight, eventually leads to another Arsenal corner. Rice is over it…
20 min PSG have established a degree of defensive control but Arsenal are still the dominant side. They’ve certainly changed the mood of the tie; now they need a goal.
18 min Nuno Mendes is booked for a late tackle on Timber. That’s good news for Bukayo Saka.
17 min: Kvaratskhelia hits the post! Now both teams are cooking with gas. After that long spell of possession, Marquinhos and Doue combined nicely to find Kvaratskhelia on the edge of the area. He used Timber as a screen and curled a beautiful shot that beat the flying Raya and hits the face of the far post.
