Paris Saint-Germain stunned the Emirates with a ruthless 1-0 victory over Arsenal, as Ousmane Dembélé’s early thunderbolt handed the French champions a precious lead in their UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg.
This was billed as a clash of near-misses, but PSG, playing in their fourth semi-final in six years, looked every bit the side ready to finally break their curse.
Dembélé delivered inside four minutes, smashing home off the post after a brilliant combination with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. It was his 25th goal of the calendar year and 11th direct contribution in this season’s Champions League, a new club record.
Luis Enrique’s side were dominant early, pressing high and creating chances at will. David Raya was twice called into action to deny Kvaratskhelia and Désiré Doué.
Arsenal rallied late in the first half, but Gianluigi Donnarumma made two superb saves to keep out Gabriel Martinelli and later Leandro Trossard.
Arsenal thought they’d equalised just after the break through Mikel Merino’s header, but VAR chalked it off for offside. It was the Gunners’ best spell, yet they couldn’t break down PSG’s backline.
The French side almost doubled their lead late on. Gonçalo Ramos clipped the bar with an audacious toe-poke, João Neves dragged an effort just wide, and Bradley Barcola missed from close range after replacing the injured Dembélé.
Still, the early strike proved enough to end Arsenal’s 17-match unbeaten European home run.
Luis Enrique praised his side’s “incredible mentality” in a deafening atmosphere. “There’s no euphoria. It’s only half-time,” he warned. “If Ousmane can play next week, great. If not, we’ll still be ready.”
PSG are now 90 minutes away from just their second-ever Champions League final, a stage that has long eluded them despite years of expectation and investment.
For Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, the message was one of belief. “We have to do something special in Paris,” he said. “We corrected an issue early and had two one-on-ones. If they go in, it’s a different game. The margins didn’t go our way tonight.”
But the reality is clear, PSG arrive in the return leg with confidence, form, and a ferocious front line. Arsenal, meanwhile, must conjure their greatest European performance in modern history to stop a Parisian march to Munich.
