Arsenal 2 – 0 Paris Saint-Germain FC – Match report

Goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka secured us a huge Champions League win against Paris Saint-Germain at the Emirates Stadium.

The damage was done in the first half when the German striker headed in a superb ball from Leandro Trossard before Saka saw a free-kick evade all players and end up in the net.

The French champions were better after the break, but despite having two shots on goal during the competition, they were unable to find a way through our resolute defense, so we confidently collected the three points and are now unbeaten in 15 games.

Havertz goes home

Just as we left on Saturday, there was a lot of excitement at the Emirates Stadium before kick-off as the Champions League theme echoed through our home for the first time this season, and we were hooked from the start.

Captain Saka came close with a trademark cut inside from the right before taking a shot, but saw his shot from the top corner whistle just over the woodwork. But after a solid first 20 minutes, our positive attitude was rewarded with the opening goal.

Leandro Trossard picked up the ball on the halfway line and was allowed to take it into the final third. Looking up, he spotted Havertz's run and his pass was precise, allowing the German to get past Gianluigi Donnarumma and head it into the empty net to give us the advantage.

PSG hadn't beaten us in the last four meetings and hadn't taken the lead up to this point, but when they fell behind their quality was evident late on.

Left-back Nuno Mendes shot from the edge of the box and beat David Raya, but his shot hit the post and fellow full-back Achraf Hakimi tested our shot-stopper with a shot from a tight angle that had to be blocked.

Saka sneaks in second

But just as the Parisians were exercising their strength, their comeback attempt faltered as we secured a second goal after 35 minutes. Saka won a free kick on the right touchline, which he fired towards the near post towards Gabriel Martinelli and Thomas Partey. The pair threw themselves at it but made no contact, but distracted Donnarumma who watched the throw crawl into his net.

The Italian goalkeeper did well to snatch the ball off Trossard's toes after Saka fired a tempting pass over goal shortly afterwards, but we went into the break with a clear lead.

It was almost bigger six minutes into the second 45 minutes when Havertz played a lovely high pass into the path of Martinelli, who scored on the volley, but his effort went straight to Donnarumma – either side of the giant goalkeeper, and the game would have been over.

Three points secured

Just after the hour, the Gooners saw Mikel Merino in red and white for the first time when he came on as a substitute on his debut, but the visitors were the better team after the break and began to create better chances. Joao Neves shot the ball against the crossbar from a corner and Kan-in Lee tried his luck from 30 meters, forcing Raya to parry his evasive shot.

Martinelli had another chance to get on the scoresheet but hurried his shot which Donnarumma was able to get behind, but as the minutes went by we continued to close the doors and eventually conceded again which meant we went to the For the first time since 2007, they started a Champions League season with consecutive shutouts.

The result took us to four points and secured us a big win against one of the giants in the European game and almost certainly a rival to ultimately secure us a place in the top eight of the league stage in January.

What's next?

Southampton are the next visitors to N5 on Saturday for our final game before the international break. We then return with a trip to Bournemouth on October 19th before hosting Shakhtar Donetsk on Matchday 3 of the Champions League the following Tuesday.