PSG will play Inter Milan in the Champions League final after comfortably beating Arsenal 2-1 thanks to two memorable goals, reports the Voice of Sport from from Parc des Princes Stadium.
The French team’s first a wonderful left-footed strike by Fabian Ruiz from the edge of the box and later a lovely curling finish by Achraf Hakimi*.*
PSG missed a penalty in the second half and Arsenal rallied briefly when Bukayo Saka rolled in a consolation effort, but the visitors left themselves too much to do and had to score twice more within the last fifteen minutes just to take the game to extra time as PSG won the tie 3-1 on aggregate.
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The Gunners have had an excellent Champions League campaign finishing third in the group along with some impressive away performances and put out Real Madrid in the round before, but overcoming this excellent French side in front of their boisterous fans – whose noise levels were quite simply phenomenal and who did not stop singing throughout the game – was a step too far.
Arsenal welcomed back Thomas Partey, who was missing in the first leg through suspension, and played well overall and put in a good performance – but as has been the story of their season, they were punished for not being clinical enough in front of goal despite controlling other areas of the pitch and dominating statistics such as possession, shots and corners.
Arsenal started poorly in the first leg last week and gave away 77% possession in the opening twenty minutes, but today they began much quicker and created a whole host of chances in the opening period – but wasted them all.
Declan Rice missed a glorious opportunity to put the visitors ahead in the third minute from a cross by Jurrien Timber on the right but his header went just wide of the left post, while Gabriel Martinelli shot straight at the keeper from inside the six-yard box. Moments later captain Martin Odegaard’s shot from distance forced a good low save from Donnarumma down to his left.
And despite all of Arsenal dominance in the early period, it was PSG who came closest to opening the scoring when Kvicha Kvaratskhelia was through on goal down the left and struck an excellent curling shot onto the woodwork.
Arsenal’s lack of cutting edge in front of goal came back to haunt them when PSG opened the scoring first. After Rice gave away a foul and was shown a yellow card for a clash on Kvaratskhelia, the home side took the free kick and the header came back out to Ruiz, who controlled the ball with his chest brilliantly before lashing home a left-footed volley from the edge of the box.
It put the hosts 2-0 ahead in the tie and left Arsenal with it all to do.
Arsenal faced a huge task before kick-off. Not only were they a goal down but they had to overcome a horrible record of not scoring in any of their past seven semi-finals in all competitions (L5, D2). In the first half here they had 53% possession and ten shots but were behind in the only statistic that mattered.
The second half began in a far more routine manner and neither side had any clear-cut chances in the first fifteen minutes since the restart; PSG were happy to contain Arsenal and defended well. Saka forced a finger-tip save from Donnarumma – the keeper performed admirably across the two legs.
Later, the referee awarded a penalty after a VAR review when Myles Lewis-Skelly was harshly adjudged to handball in the area. Raya guessed correctly and saved down to his left.
But suddenly, PSG doubled their lead when Hakimi was given far too much time in the box and composed himself before curling in a super effort to the right-hand side of goal to effectively settle the contest.
The score was now 3-0 on aggregate to the hosts who were showing no love to their opponents and have now reached their second Champions League final.
However, they switched off immediately thinking they were home and dry and Arsenal pulled a goal back when Saka rounded the keeper and put the ball into an empty net. Shortly afterwards he missed another chance when substitute Leandro Trossard curled in a great cross from the left but his half-volley went over the bar and the dream of a miracle comeback was over.
PSG now go on to face Inter Milan – who overcame Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate after two stunning Champions League ties – at the showpiece event on May 31 in Munich.
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