Gunners pay price for missed chances as lack of fit strikers proves glaring issue once again
Painful exit: Arsenal could not produce a historic comeback in Paris to reach the Champions League final
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The full-time whistle went and a few of the Arsenal players simply fell to the floor.
Their race was run and all around them, the Parc des Princes burst into life as fireworks and flares went off. The party began, but it was not one Arsenal wanted to be part of.
There will be no final in Munich, no chance to make history. Instead Arsenal leave Paris - the city of love - heartbroken.
And that is because they were in this tie, even after losing the first leg and even after going 2-0 down tonight.
Paris Saint-Germain, as expected, gave them chances, but Arsenal were not able to take them. It has been the story of their season.
By contrast, PSG took their opportunities as Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi found the net in either half. Bukayo Saka hit back for Arsenal after that, keeping their feeling of hope alive.
The start of this game mirrored that of the first leg a week ago, except this time it was Arsenal who dominated the first 20 minutes.
Never mind being level on aggregate, the Gunners could - and arguably should - have been ahead. But, as has often been the the case this season, Arsenal did not take their chances.
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Declan Rice headed just wide from a Jurrien Timber cross, while Gianluigi Donnarumma pulled off two great saves to deny Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard.
That was all inside the first eight minutes, which Arsenal bossed as they played with the “big balls” Rice had said they would need to.
PSG, by contrast, were shaky. Hacked clearances and misplaced passes typified their display, but their threat on the break remained.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia hit the post with a beautiful curling effort and it was a reminder how much of a tightrope Arsenal were walking.
They fell off it just before the half-hour mark and, as big a threat as the Gunners had looked from set-pieces, it was PSG that scored from one.
Vitinha’s free-kick was headed to the edge of the box and Ruiz chested the ball past Martinelli, before lashing it into the corner. A deflection off William Saliba helped the shot on its way and reinforced the feeling that this was not going to be Arsenal’s night.
Still the chances came, though, and with it frustration, too. Just before half time, Saka beat Nuno Mendes, but no one was there to knock in the cut-back.
The winger threw his hands up in the air, an uncharacteristic act for him, and it merely underlined how much Arsenal were missing a recognised striker.
Mikel Merino has performed admirably over the past two months, but he is not, as Ian Wright would say, “a killer”. Mikel Arteta must have wished he could have had Gabriel Jesus or Kai Havertz, both in the stands injured, on the pitch.
As the game wore on, Arsenal looked tired and like a side that had run their race, but they kept on going.
Donnarumma produced another stunning save from Saka and David Raya delivered some heroics of his own to keep Arsenal in it.
VAR intervened to give a penalty for a handball by Myles Lewis-Skelly, which felt incredibly harsh, but Raya served justice by saving Vitinha’s spot-kick.
That felt like the lift a weary Arsenal needed, however minutes later PSG had a second goal. Thomas Partey was too slow on the edge of the box and Hakimi pounced, before playing a quick one-two with Dembele. In a flash, the ball was in the bottom corner.
Still Arsenal kept plugging away and, when Saka scored with 14 minutes to go, the dream was given a lifeline.
PSG finished the match as they started it, a bag of nerves. But Arsenal ended it the same way, too, missing chances.
Riccardo Calafiori found Saka with a cross but the winger put the ball over the ball when the goal was gaping.
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