Arsenal 4-0 PSV: Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard all on target with Gunners off to FLYING start on theirChampions League return
- Arsenal put on a display of attacking flair and defensive nous in their 4-0 rout
- The performance proves that Arsenal have the potential to go far this year
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off!
Well, that was worth the wait. Arsenal are back in the Champions League – and they’re back with the profoundest of bangs.
In the end it was four. It should have been at least double that as the Gunners ruthlessly reacquainted themselves with European football’s elite club tournament with this efficient dismantling of PSV Eindhoven.
This was Arsenal’s first venture back into the Champions League since 2016. Boy did they make up for lost time.
After such a long hiatus, you’d forgive supporters for merely being grateful at being back in the big time.
On this evidence – that would be selling themselves short. If this awesome showing is anything to go by then Arsenal will go long into this tournament.
Bukayo Saka opened the scoring and assisted Leandro Trossard in a sublime first half
Trossard netted a well-placed shot from the edge of the area to double Arsenal’s lead early on
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All of that will become clearer with time. For now, it is only fair to eulogise over a night that will live long in the memory for those with Arsenal connections.
The Champions League anthem was greeted with a euphoric roar from the Emirates faithful. The club even printed the lyrics to the unmistakable hymn in the match-day programme.
The teeming rain couldn’t dampen the spirits here. They were back where they feel they belong and were shouting it from the rooftops – PSV were their sorry victims.
There was a certain poignance about the goalscorer; Bukayo Saka – the one player who best represents the club’s formidable transformation under Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal’s undisputed ‘starboy’; Saka has already achieved so much but this was a night he has longed for. Dreamt of.
To hear the anthem. To feel the anticipation. And here he was, on his Champions League debut, taking it all in his stride with an unmistakeable swagger.
Everytime Saka has been asked to step up a level he has unequivocally found the answers. Did anyone really doubt he’d do it again last night? What a player the 22-year-old is.
The goal was relatively straightforward, Saka stroking past Walter Benitez who could only parry Martin Odegaard’s effort from the edge of the box into the Arsenal forward’s direction.
The stadium erupted. It’s been a long six-and-a-half years. The last player to score a Champions League goal for the Gunners was Theo Walcott. He retired in the summer.
Gabriel Jesus had Arsenal on cloud nine when he added a third to their first-half rout
Martin Odegaard turned in a stunning performance to lead Arsenal to a 4-0 win over PSV, supplying the fourth goal with a brilliant strike
Arteta threw his arms in the air in celebration. This was a new experience for him, too.
Of course, he’s been positioned on the bench in the Champions League before as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants at Manchester City.
But this was different. This was his team. His time. His blueprint. And it was working an absolute treat.
It wasn’t long before Arsenal rampaged their way to a second goal. Who was at the centre of it? Correct.
Saka was terrorising PSV left-back Sergino Dest to the point where you started to feel sorry for him.
Not that the Arsenal attacker was ready to pay his rival any mercy before squaring an inch perfect pass into Leandro Trossard’s path.
Like he did in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Everton, the Belgian forward’s first-time finish was unerring – rifling beyond an overworked Benitez to double Arsenal’s advantage.
Arsenal were obliterating a team that have made a 100 percent start to their Eredvisie campaign. A side who have scored 13 goals in their opening four matches back in Holland’s top league, conceding just once.
PSV are no mugs. Indeed, amidst their first half pasting, the Dutch troubled Arsenal’s backline on more than one occasion.
Midfielder Jerry Schouten, in particular, catching the eye with his work rate and quality in possession.
But they simply had no answer to Arsenal’s searing attacks.
They had no answer to Saka. No answer to Trossard. No answer to Gabriel Jesus, who blasted home Arsenal’s third in the 37th minute.
This time it was Trossard who turned provider, his deep cross locating Jesus at the back post.
Declan Rice showed why he should be considered one of Europe’s premier holding midfielders
Kai Havertz delivered his best performance in an Arsenal shirt and led the counter-attack for their fourth
Mikel Arteta chose David Raya for this match and the Spaniard distributed the ball well
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The less said about PSV’s defending the better – not that Jesus cared an iota as he struck a ruthless far post finish beyond Benitez.
PSV couldn’t get in quick enough. Arsenal didn’t want the first half to end.
But this wasn’t only about Arsenal’s breathtaking attack. On his Champions League bow, Declan Rice showed precisely why he should be considered one of European football’s premier holding midfielders.
William Saliba, at the heart of Arsenal’s defence, was dominant in the tackle and cultured in possession – a Rolls Royce.
Kai Havertz, much maligned since his arrival from Chelsea, was having his best game for the club.
But, with all that said, it is Arteta who is inspiring this team. Driving them on. Their beating heart.
The Spaniard’s mantra of ‘trusting the process’ was manifesting before everyone’s very eyes here on one of the most euphoric nights of his reign.
Odegaard smashed home a fourth from edge of the area in the 70th minute but by then the damage was done.
Europe, you’ve been warned!
Arsenal 4-0 PSV: stats and ratings
Arsenal (433): Raya 7; White 7, Saliba 8, Gabriel 7.5, Zinchenko 7 (Tomiyasu 58, 6.5); Odegaard 8, Rice 8 (Jorginho 76), Havertz 7.5; Saka 8.5 (Vieira 69, 6.5), Jesus 7.5 (Smith Rowe 69, 6.5), Trossard 8 (Nelson 58).
Goals: Saka 8′, Trossard 20′, Jesus 38′, Odegaard 70′.
Subs: Ramsdale, Hein, Kiwior, Nketiah, Cedric, Elneny. Booking: White.
Arteta: 8.5
PSV (4231): Benitez 6.5; Teze 5, Boscagli 5, Bella-Kotchap 5 (Romalho 76), Dest 4; Veerman 5, Schouten 7; Bakayoko 6.5 (Lozano 66, 5), Saibari 5.5 (Tillman 66, 5), Lang 5.5 (Vertessen 77); De Jong 5.4 (Pepi 90).
Subs: Drommel, Waterman, Sambo, Til, Babadi, Van Aanholt. Booking, Tillman, Boscagli, Schouten.
Bosz: 6
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER) -7
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