ARSENAL SQUANDERED A chance to wrap up first place in Champions League Group A as Paris Saint-Germain hit back to earn a 2-2 at the Emirates Stadium tonight.
Arsene Wenger’s side were on course to secure top spot and a possible easier draw in the last 16 after taking a 2-1 lead in the second half.
Having trailed to Edinson Cavani’s first-half opener, the Gunners equalised through Olivier Giroud just before the break and went ahead in the second half thanks to a Marco Verratti own goal.
But Lucas equalised in the closing stages to ensure Arsenal and PSG, who had both already qualified for the last 16, will have to wait until the final round of group matches to settle their fight for pole position.
Arsenal, who travel to Basel for their last match on 6 December, sit second in the group, level on points with PSG, who play Ludogorets in their final fixture.
After paying the price for finishing second in their group several times in recent years, Wenger had called on his players to finish in first place so they might avoid yet another daunting last 16 draw.
But that message didn’t seem to have hit home as Arsenal made another unconvincing start just days after their tepid performance in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Manchester United.
PSG threatened an early opener when sloppy Arsenal marking allowed Uruguay striker Cavani to win a header in the penalty area and Thiago Motta narrowly failed to turn the loose ball into the net.
Unable to shake off their lethargy, Arsenal fell behind in the 18th minute.
Motta slipped a perfectly weighted pass towards Blaise Matuidi and, with Shkodran Mustafi caught flat-footed, the winger was able to direct a low cross into the six-yard box, where the sliding Cavani had the simple task of netting his fifth Champions League goal this season.
PSG’s preparations had been disrupted when Ivorian defender Serge Aurier was stopped from entering the United Kingdom at the last minute.
UK authorities revoked Aurier’s visa following his two-month suspended prison sentence for assaulting a police officer.
But, in the first half, PSG were far superior to Arsenal, whose lone attack of note in the opening 44 minutes ended with Aaron Ramsey appealing in vain for a penalty after Tiago Silva’s challenge
Despite their laboured efforts, Arsenal conjured an equaliser out of nowhere on the stroke of half-time.
Mesut Ozil guided a pass into Alexis Sanchez and his sharp turn drew a lunge from Grzegorz Krychowiak.
It appeared Krychowiak had missed Sanchez and the ball, but the Chilean still fell and referee Felix Brych awarded a penalty.
PSG were clearly irked by the decision as Cavani became embroiled in a spat with Ramsey, but Giroud ignored the fuss and stroked home the spot-kick to make it two goals in successive games after his equaliser at United.
Lucas almost restored PSG’s lead with a free-kick that grazed the top of the crossbar early in the second half.
Arsenal’s luck was in again as they went ahead in comical fashion in the 60th minute.
A promising Arsenal attack looked to have floundered when Ramsey and Sanchez couldn’t finish, but Marquinhos’s panicked clearance cannoned into Verratti and rebounded into the net past bemused PSG goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
But PSG finally had some good fortune of their own to snatch an equaliser in the 77th minute as Lucas nodded a tame effort goalwards and Alex Iwobi, trying to head clear, deflected the ball into his own net when David Ospina would easily have saved.
Cavani should have won it for PSG, but he missed two golden opportunities in the final minutes.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid guaranteed top spot in Champions League Group D with a game to spare ahead of Bayern Munich as Kevin Gameiro and Antoine Griezmann struck in a 2-0 win over PSV Eindhoven.
Already assured of their place in the last 16, Bayern’s shock 3-2 defeat to Rostov earlier today meant Atletico needed just a point to win the group.
And Diego Simeone’s men were rarely troubled as two goals in 11 second-half minutes from French international duo Gameiro and Griezmann ensured Atletico remain the only side with a 100% Champions League record this season.
Simeone can now afford the luxury of resting his key men for the trip to Munich on 6 December, whilst PSV must beat Rostov at home to progress into the Europa League.
Results:
Group A: Arsenal 2 (Giroud 45+1-pen, Verratti 59-og) Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 2 (Cavani 18, Lucas 77), Ludogorets 0 Basel 0. Group B: Besiktas 3 (Tosun 58, Quaresma 83-pen, Aboubakar 89) Benfica 3 (Guedes 10, Semedo 25, Fejsa 31). Group C: Celtic 0 Barcelona 2 (Messi 24, 56-pen), Borussia Monchengladbach 1 (Raffael 23) Manchester City 1 (Silva 45+1). Group D: Rostov (RUS) 3 (Azmoun 44, Poloz 50, Noboa 67) Bayern Munich (GER) 2 (Costa 35, Bernat 52), Atletico Madrid 2 (Gameiro 55, Griezmann 66) PSV Eindhoven 0.
– © AFP 2016;
