Arsenal‘s wobble in the Champions League at the start of last season, with surprise defeats to both Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos that nearly condemned them to an early exit, was partly attributed to Wenger’s decision to play Ospina in goal. We must continue working. It certainly didn’t look that way at half time.
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Pic: ReutersPARIS: Paris St Germain wasted the chance to ignite their stuttering start to the season when they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Arsenal in their Champions League Group A opener on Tuesday.
Arsenal got off to a disastrous start in France as PSG took the lead in just the very first minute at the Parc des Princes. “We always had faith in our game, and it’s nice to have been rewarded”.
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi defended Edinson Cavani and labelled him one of the world’s best strikers despite his wastefulness against Arsenal.
With the Arsenal defence still settling, Aurier powered forward from right-back and delivered a cross that was met by a flick of the head from Cavani at the near post, enough to beat Ospina and find the net.
It could have been worse for the Gunners were it not for a superb block by Laurent Koscielny.
Adrien Rabiot (Paris midfielder): “We’re quite disappointed”. Angel Di Maria was left open in the middle of the box to get on the end of a corner kick but David Ospina pulled off a terrific save.
In a nervy finish, Arsenal had another good chance soon after Sanchez’s equalizer but Iwobi’s effort at goal was too weak to surprise Areola.
However, he squandered numerous other opportunities to put the game beyond Arsenal.
“I think it’s a good point but we came here with our ambition and we wanted to have the three points, but when we start like this it’s hard to play”.
Wenger reacted in the 64th minute, bringing on Giroud in place of the ineffective Oxlade-Chamberlain.
But it was still the Ligue 1 champions creating the majority of the chances. These players are still deciding what they make of Emery but they were playing for him here.
Indeed, had Cavani not wasted a hatful of chances Arsenal would have been dead and buried before the break. Then, just before the interval, he ran on to Di Maria’s pass but lost his footing while trying to untangle his legs.
The Gunners were second best for large parts but were able to salvage a 1-1 draw in the French capital thanks to Alexis Sanchez’s strike 13 minutes from time.
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Ospina did well to dive at Cavani’s feet and push the ball away before he could get a shot in, with the hosts stung back into action by the equaliser.
