Arsene Wenger was left feeling vindicated by his surprise selection of David Ospina as the goalkeeper pulled off a string of saves in Arsenal’s Champions League draw with Paris St Germain. Serge Aurier’s whipped cross was met by Cavani, who glanced past David Ospina.
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In the first half, PSG were all over Arsenal, pressing high, looking solid and creating chances, unlike in their first league outings.
Both sides ended with 10 men after the visitors’ French forward Olivier Giroud, who started on the bench, and PSG’s Italian midfielder Marco Verratti were shown their second yellow cards in stoppage time.
The Uruguayan had two spectacular misses in the first half before being denied by the Arsenal ‘keeper in the second half, and Unai Emery’s side have now gone three games without a win.
Emery has made many changes to his starting team in four games in Ligue 1, where PSG have managed just seven points, and he made more alterations on Tuesday, notably replacing ever-present goalkeeper Kevin Trapp with Alphonse Areola.
Angel di Maria’s’s corner in the 13th minute almost caught out Ospina, but the 28-year-old, who made an error against Olympiakos in last season’s competition, got back to tip the ball over the crossbar.
“I have great confidence in Edi”. I told the players at half-time that if we kept the ball, we’d come back because we were risky when we had good possession of the ball.
So it sounds as though Walcott’s injury is a minor one and he should be available again soon but we’ll have to wait and see whether he recovers in time for Saturday’s trip to the KCOM Stadium to take on Hull City. The hosts dominated the opening stanza but could find the back of the net as Cavani missed with the goal gaping just after the half-hour mark.
“He had three good chances, three very good chances”. They know what the rules are for the season.
“When you start so badly against a team of that quality you need experience”.
The first goal was a body blow to Arsenal’s chances and it reeked of naivety and innocence, not experience and wisdom.
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But Wenger hinted he was likely to stick with the Colombian for the visit of Basle in their next Champions League outing.
