Arsenal came from behind at Parc des Princes to earn a draw against Paris Saint-Germain in the first league game of group A of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League. Arsene Wenger’s side had their work cut after conceding as early as in the 42nd second as Edinson Cavani headed Unai Emery’s side ahead from Serge Aurier’s pin-point cross.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina was in prime form as he made a number of world-class saves to keep his side in the mix. The Gunners found their equaliser in the 77th minute when Alexis Sanchez rifled home the rebound from inside the box after Alphonse Areola had parried away Alex Iwobi’s shot.
Iwobi missed a late chance to win it for the North London outfit with the game coming to a bizarre conclusion and finished with 10 men on each side after Olivier Giroud and Marco Verrati were sent off for an off the ball altercation.
Here are the major talking points from Paris Saint-Germain’s 1-1 draw against Arsenal:
#1 David Ospina has a blinder
The entire Arsenal fanbase went into a meltdown when it was announced that Arsene Wenger had opted to start The Gunners’ Champion League campaign with David Ospina in between the sticks for the second consecutive season. The reaction of the fans was partly justified as The North London outfit had been down this road before, only last season when The Colombian was at fault for Arsenal’s loss in the opening two games of the Champions League.
However, at the end of it all, Ospina put to rest the ghost of last season and after a shaky start, which saw him concede in the first minute, put in a heroic display to help his side earn a draw. Ospina is a very good goalkeeper and puts in world class performances on a regular basis for Colombia, however, it was probably the first time that he had done so in an Arsenal shirt.
First, it was Cavani who was denied on numerous occasions by Ospina, before the Colombian made some excellent saves to deny Serge Aurier and Angel di Maria. With Petr Cech showing greater susceptibility at the near post in recent times, it may be worth a punt to put Ospina in goal for the Premier League matches, if only to just hand the Czech Republic international a reality check.
#2 Ed-i-(mis)son Cavani
Cavani has been at PSG for more than three seasons now and although his fall from grace has been nothing like that of Falcao, the Uruguayan’s stock has plummeted nonetheless. Having lived in the shadow of Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the past 3 seasons, it was expected that Cavani would finally show his ruthless streak following the departure of the mercurial Swede.
And it did look like Cavani would be a nightmare for Arsenal’s defence, having helped his side race to a one-goal lead within the first minute. But it was not to be as the Uruguayan missed chance after chance while also being denied by some out of the world goalkeeping by the Arsenal shot-stopper.
Cavani could have recorded hat-tricks in either half if he had buried the chances he had positioned himself excellently for, but he was let down by either a poor touch, or an extra touch, or the lack of an extra touch, or simply by his finishing.
#3 Shambolic defending by Arsenal
Arsenal have conceded in four of their five games since the start of the season, barring the goalless draw against reigning Premier League champions Leicester City. The Gunners’ defence was all over the place against Paris Saint-Germain too and if not for the profligacy of Cavani and the unbelievable form of Ospina, Wenger’s side could have returned to London with a humiliating scoreline.
Following the opening day loss at the hands of Liverpool, which saw the Gunners concede 4, they have ridden their luck on several occasions to draw two and win two out of their remaining four games. Arsenal’s defence has been struggling in the absence of Per Mertesacker and Gabriel, and the arrival of Shkodran Mustafi from Valencia hasn’t had the desired effect, but in defence of the German he needs some time to adapt to the style of his new team and the pace of the Premier League.
The indifferent form of Nacho Monreal – one of Arsenal’s most consistent players last season – is another cause of concern for Wenger and it does not help that his deputy Kieran Gibbs is currently sidelined with yet another injury.
Arsenal were exposed by PSG’s pace on many occasions and Wenger would be hoping to sort out his defence at the earliest if his side are to challenge for major honours this season.
#4 The curious case of Granit Xhaka
Arsene Wenger – a man not exactly known for his spending – shelled out quite the fortune on Xhaka earlier in the summer and the Swiss was expected to be the missing link in Arsenal’s creative heavy midfield. Xhaka is a tough tackling midfielder who sits in front of the back four and has an eye for a pass, exactly the qualities Arsenal needed today against the reigning French Champions.
Francis Coquelin, who has made a name for himself as a midfield destroyer, was caught out of position on more occasions than one and his inability to pick a pass or even circulate the ball is evident to all. Wenger’s aversion to put Xhaka in the starting line-up and his persistence with Coquelin is baffling, to say the least, and one can only hope that the Frenchman shows a little more faith in his new signing.
Xhaka has only started 2 of Arsenal’s 5 games this seasons and against PSG after the introduction of him and Giroud, Arsenal were in much better control and eventually equalised and one is left to wonder what could have been had the Swiss started the match instead of Coquelin. Here’s hoping that Wenger is just giving Xhaka all the time he needs to settle in the team and there’s nothing more to it.
#5 Controversial ending
The four added minutes at the Parc des Princes saw a controversial ending to an otherwise good game of football. Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud and PSG midfielder Marco Verratti were both sent off for an off the ball altercation.
Giroud, who had come on as a 63rd minute substitute for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, was booked earlier in the game for dissent and received his marching orders for a second bookable offence after he got into a heated exchange with Verratti.
The Italian, on the other hand, had received a booking in the 6th minute of the game for a bad foul and was seen arguing with Giroud after the Frenchman was accidentally tripped by him. However, it was not clear what exactly was Verratti at fault for to be booked and the sending off seemed harsh.
While for Giroud, it was his second consecutive sending off in the opening game of the UEFA Champions League, following last season’s red card in the opening day loss to Dinamo Zagreb. His continued absence from the starting line-up might be getting to the head of the Frenchman, or maybe he has not been started because his head is not at the right place? Your guess is as good as mine, but let’s wait and see how this unfolds.
