Mikel Arteta praised Arsenal’s growing maturity after their clinical victory over Paris Saint-Germain kickstarted their Champions League campaign.
A header from Kai Havertz and a free-kick from the stand-in captain, Bukayo Saka, in the first half sent Arsenal on their way to a win against the French champions as the summer signing Mikel Merino made his debut after recovering from a shoulder injury.
The only downside for Arteta was an injury to Jurriën Timber that forced the Netherlands defender to be substituted at half-time, with the Arsenal manager confirming that he had “felt something muscular”.
But another superb defensive display against a PSG side who had scored in their last 51 Champions League group-stage matches ensured Arsenal maintained their record of not having conceded a goal in this competition after drawing 0-0 in their opening fixture away at Atalanta.
“We feel really happy because we played one of the best teams in the world for sure,” said Arteta. “These games in European competitions are very different to the Premier League and we showed a lot of maturity. We put our stamp in the way that we want to behave against top teams in Europe and I really like that.”
The victory moved Arsenal into the top eight of the nascent Champions League table after they reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2010 last season, where they were eliminated by Bayern Munich. Saka’s goal was the fourth in Arsenal’s last six matches that has been scored from a set piece after crucial strikes against Tottenham, Manchester City and Leicester.
While there was an element of fortune about the latest after a mistake from PSG’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Arteta paid tribute to his players’ resilience in the second half. “We suffered much more than we should have done,” he said. “The Champions League brings different demands but I think we handled it really well.”
Havertz expressed his delight after becoming the first Arsenal player since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2019 to score in six straight home games. “I love the stadium – I am so thankful to play here and be a part of the team,” he said. “Back in the day I wasn’t a player who loved the [aerial] duels, but now I just love it. If we win against teams like this, it gives us a big boost – last year it was tough to go out against Bayern but we grew as a team.”
Luis Enrique, the PSG manager, described Arsenal as “one of the best teams in the world”, adding: “We knew from the first minute they were going to press us and we couldn’t overcome that. But if you lose every single duel you are going to be far away from victory.”
