Paris Saint-Germain secured a 1-0 win over Arsenal in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night.
UEFA Champions League
Result: Arsenal 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain
Date: 29 April 2025
Venue: Emirates Stadium
PSG were unchanged from the defeat to OGC Nice, while the Gunners recalled Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka, who both started on the bench against Crystal Palace last weekend.
The visitors only needed three minutes to get the breakthrough as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia surged towards the box before picking out Ousmane Dembele, who volleyed home his eighth goal of the tournament.
Arsenal struggled to deal with PSG's attack in the first half and they had David Raya to thank for keeping the score down, as the shot-stopper produced a superb save to keep out Desire Doue.
The Gunners should have been level just before the break when Myles Lewis-Skelly did well to play Gabriel Martinelli through on goal, but the Brazilian was denied by Gianluigi Donnarumma in a one-on-one situation.
Arsenal came out firing in the second half and had the ball in the back of the net three minutes in when Merino nodded home, however the goal was ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for an offside.
The French champions, however, were dealt a blow on 70 minutes when goal-scorer Dembele went off with an apparent injury and was replaced by countryman Bradley Barcola for the final 20 minutes.
Barcola had a big chance to double PSG's lead with six minutes left on the clock after being slipped through on goal, but the young Frenchman dragged his shot inches wide of the upright with only Raya to beat in the box.
Nevertheless, PSG were not made to pay for that miss as the Gunners failed to carve out another clear-cut opening in the final third, as they will head to Paris 1-0 behind.
