ARSENAL’s plans to put their feet up in Europe have been scrapped after Mikel Arteta’s weary team continue to run out of steam.
They arrived in Eindhoven only needing a point to be sure of winning their group after an electric start to their Europa League campaign.
But now they must beat FC Zurich at the Emirates next week to guarantee they won’t be facing the likes of Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Juventus when they drop down from the Champions League in the next round.
And that means Arteta won’t be able to field a team of kids after watching his senior stars getting a right run-around this evening.
Second-half goals from Joey Veerman and Luuk De Jong mean that PSV can still snatch pole position from a Gunners team who looked to be in cruise control for the first 45 minutes.
And while there is no need for panic while their fate remains in their own hands, the way his team wilted after the break will be a real cause for concern for Arteta.
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Just as alarming as the sudden goal drought is the way opponents are now regularly finding a way through a previously watertight defence.
Cody Gakpo thought he had given Arsenal something to worry about when he raced away to shoot past the advancing Aaron Ramsdale.
But his celebrations were quickly cut short when he realised the linesman had raised his flag for offside.
Ramsdale, making his European debut, had already been forced into a low save by Xavi Simons yet that was about as much as he was asked to do for most of the first-half.
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Arsenal’s first attempt on goal didn’t arrive until Gabriel Martinelli’s 16th minute shot was deflected over and that was quickly followed by Eddie Nketiah’s near post effort which required a sharp save from Walter Benitez.
Their best chance of the first-half arrived six minutes before the break when Takehiro Tomiyasu’s header picked out Martinelli in space in front of goal.
But though the young Brazilian was able to bring the ball under control on his chest, his finish was sadly lacking as he volleyed over.
And Arsenal were very neary punished for their wayward finishing when Simons wriggled past Kieran Tierney and William Saliba to prod a shot into the bottom corner.
It was only as Arsenal were about to kick-off that Italian ref Marco Di Bello got word in his ear from the VAR to tell him that Anwar El Ghazi had been marginally offside before chesting the ball down for Simons.
There was still time for Martin Odegaard to shoot straight at Benitez as Arsenal looked to regain control before the interval.
Eddie Nketiah fired just wide on the turn before Tieerney cut inside to curl one over as Arsenal looked to take control.
But the breakthrough never materialised and they paid the price in the 56th minute when sub De Dong teed up Veermans to smash home.
Wore was to follow eight minutes later when Ramsdale came for Gakpo’s corner, completely missed his pounch and left De Jong free to head home.
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The former Newcastle striker had the ball in the net again two minutes later but yet again it was ruled out for offside.
Not that PSV were going to lose any sleep over that. This game was already done and dusted.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
