Arsenal dreams of reaching the UEFA Champions League finals were dented by Paris Saint Germain who beat them 1-0 at the Emirates in the semi-finals first leg staged on Wednesday night.
Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring inside four minutes before Arsenal had a second-half goal disallowed when VAR adjudged Mikel Merino’s header from Declan Rice’s free-kick was offside.
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Dembele, axed by Luis Enrique for Arsenal’s comfortable 2-0 league stage win against PSG here in October, was the architect. The France international picked the ball up in the centre of the pitch and was allowed to run unchallenged before spraying the ball out to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Desire Doue came close to doubling PSG’s advantage on the half-hour mark but Raya was equal to it with a fine one-handed save. Arsenal were on the ropes and missing the suspended Thomas Partey in the heart of their midfield.
Arsenal were in need of a strong start to the second half, and they thought they were back on level terms just 90 seconds in when Merino headed home Declan Rice’s free-kick. But VAR intervened with Merino half a body’s width offside.
PSG substitute Goncalo Ramos struck the Arsenal crossbar in the closing moments. Mikel Arteta’s players are now tasked with overhauling a deficit in Paris next week to reach their first final in nearly two decades.
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