Arsenal beats PSV and guarantees place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League
Odegaard (twice), Timber, Merino, Trossard, Nwaneri and Calafiori score for England; Lang scores
Classification in hand with a rout
With a great collective performance, especially from the full-backs and midfielders Odegaard and Declan Rice, Arsenal dominated PSV from start to finish and easily won 7-1 at the Philips Stadium. Odegaard (twice), Timber, Merino, Trossard, Nwaneri and Calafiori all scored.
The 90 minutes
Despite not having Saka, Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Havertz up front for some time, Arsenal had excellent attacking performance in the first half. They built their partial victory on the left flank, with excellent triangles between Lewis-Skelly, Trossard and Declan Rice. In one of these, Rice crossed perfectly for right-back Timber to open the scoring.
Again on the left, Lewis-Skelly received the ball from Trossard and crossed for Nwaneri to unleash a bomb. It’s worth noting that the pair had plenty of freedom once again.
To secure Arsenal’s place in the standings, PSV didn’t just give them space, they decided to give it all away. After a back and forth, Flamingo set up Merino to take the shot. After all that kindness, Arsenal repaid them late in the half with a childish penalty by Partey on Luuk de Jong. Lang took the shot well and reduced the deficit.
The second half was a show for Arsenal. It is also worth noting that PSV made it very easy to mark, but midfielders Declan Rice and Odegaard deserve an honorable mention. Within two minutes, Odegaard and Trossard had already increased the score to 5-1. In the 28th minute, Odegaard, who had already scored, was again penalized by a mistake by goalkeeper Walter Martínez and scored from outside the area. In the end, Calafiori, completely free, closed the score.
PSV suffers biggest defeat by a Dutchman in European competition
The massacre in Eindhoven gave PSV the worst record among the Dutch as the team from the country to suffer the most severe defeat in the history of European competitions. It surpassed the 6-1 defeat that Ajax suffered against Napoli in the 2022/2023 Champions League. In addition, Arsenal’s victory ended PSV’s 15-match unbeaten run at the Philips Stadium in European competitions.
