Paris Saint-Germain secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. Ousmane Dembele’s early strike silenced the Emirates Stadium, setting the tone for the match.
Despite Arsenal’s efforts to recover, they struggled against Gianluigi Donnarumma’s impressive goalkeeping. The Gunners now face the challenge of overturning this deficit in the return leg in France.
PSG wasted no time asserting their dominance, swiftly breaking through Arsenal’s press. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia played a crucial role by finding Dembele at the edge of the box. Dembele unleashed a powerful left-footed shot that ricocheted off the far post and into the net. This early goal marked PSG’s intent and left Arsenal scrambling to regain composure.
Arsenal gradually found their footing in the latter part of the first half. Gabriel Martinelli had a chance to level the score but couldn’t beat Donnarumma after breaking through PSG’s defence. The Gunners thought they had equalised early in the second half when Mikel Merino headed Declan Rice’s free-kick into the net. However, VAR ruled him offside after a lengthy review.
The game continued with Arsenal pushing for an equaliser, but Donnarumma remained resolute. Leandro Trossard was denied by another full-stretch save from Donnarumma after making a run down the left channel. Meanwhile, Bradley Barcola missed narrowly after combining well with Kvaratskhelia and Goncalo Ramos.
PSG demonstrated their commitment to possession-based football throughout the match. Their strategy paid off as they executed a sequence of 26 successful passes leading to Dembele’s goal, marking their longest passing move resulting in a goal since Opta began tracking such data in 2003-04.
This goal was Dembele’s 33rd across all competitions this season, placing him among Europe’s top scorers alongside Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane, and Kylian Mbappe. His contribution was pivotal in maintaining PSG’s advantage heading into next week’s second leg at Parc des Princes.
Despite Arsenal’s improvement after half-time, Donnarumma made five crucial saves to preserve PSG’s lead. This performance equalled his highest number of saves in a Champions League match this season, underscoring his importance to PSG’s defensive efforts.
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As PSG prepares for the return leg with a one-goal advantage, Arsenal must regroup and strategise effectively to overcome this setback. The upcoming match at Parc des Princes promises to be an intense battle as both teams vie for a spot in the final.