Arsenal 2-2 Paris Saint-Germain: Status quo

Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain drew – again – so the teams remain level on points, and while PSG has a tiebreaker, the final matchday will still be the decider.

The match started negatively for Arsenal – really, almost for the entire first half. In the 18th minute PSG went ahead, as Blaise Matuidi made a good run forward and found Edinson Cavani’s equally effective run on the far post for a sliding finish. Paris Saint-Germain held the ball for much of the half, dominating possession.

But immediately before halftime, Arsenal struck back. An interception in midfield allowed Mesut Özil to slide a pass into Alexis on the right side of the box. Grzegorz Krychowiak slid in on Alexis trying to break up the play, and Alexis went to the floor. It’s hard to tell for sure, even on replay, whether it should have been given, but honestly I don’t care – it was, and Olivier Giroud scored the penalty to level the score.

After halftime Arsenal took off. They were able to go ahead in the 60th minute, on a crazy play. Carl Jenkinson played a good ball from the right flank near Aaron Ramsey in the PSG box, and an attempted clearance fell at Ramsey’s feet. His subsequent shot went straight to Marquinhos, who tried to clear. Unfortunately for Marquinhos, Marco Verratti was in the way – the ball ricocheted off his shin and past Alphonse Areola into the back of the net for an own goal.

The lead didn’t last, though. In the 77th minute a PSG attack led to Kieran Gibbs conceding a corner, and Hatem Ben Arfa crossed it right to the head of Lucas Moura, who wasn’t particularly well-covered. Lucas’ header was deflected about a degree by Alex Iwobi’s attempt to clear; not enough to take the ball off-frame, but enough for David Ospina to be unable to react in time.

A few chances went each way in the game’s remainder, but none went through, meaning that the results on the final matchday of the group stage will determine whether Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain will win it. Paris Saint-Germain holds the advantage due to – no joke – head-to-head away goals. Arsenal will need to outperform PSG to win the group.