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Paris Saint-Germain beat Arsenal 2-1 at home to take their Champions League semifinal 3-1 on aggregate.
Paris Saint-Germain weathered one attack after another and showed remarkable adaptability to hold off and defeat an inspired Arsenal 2-1 to reach the Champions League final.
Deprived of the ball possession they so often enjoy, PSG looked in trouble early on but found the right answers to hurt the Gunners in the match on Wednesday.
They relied on counter-attacking football and an excellent Gianluigi Donnarumma to prevail, advancing 3-1 on aggregate.
“The feedback straightaway from their bench is that we were much better than them,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports after the game.
“When you look at the two games, the best player on the pitch has been their goalkeeper. He has made a difference for them in the tie.
“We were much closer than the results showed. I am very proud of the players, the way we handled the pressure, and after 20 minutes, it should have been 3-0.
“We are not there, and that has to hurt.”
PSG reached the final of Europe’s elite tournament for the second time in five years. They will take on Inter Milan on May 31 after the three-time champion defeated Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate in one of the greatest semifinals in the competition’s history.
PSG had lost to Borussia Dortmund at this stage last year and was beaten by Bayern Munich in the 2020 final.
PSG broke the deadlock in the 27th minute from a set piece after the Arsenal defence cleared a free kick towards the edge of the area. The ball bounced back into the path of Fabian Ruiz, who smashed a stunning half-volley into the back of the net.
Achraf Hakimi curled in a precise finish in the 72nd minute to make it 2-0 on the night, before Bukayo Saka pulled one back for the Gunners.
The England forward then spurned an open goal minutes later and, with it, the last real chance for a comeback to truly be mounted.
PSG had earlier missed the chance to double their lead from the penalty spot when Ferreira Vitinha had his kick saved by David Raya.
The kick itself was somewhat controversial in that VAR (video assistant referee) called back play when Myles Lewis-Skelly’s hand was innocuously clipped by Hakimi’s shot.
“Over the two legs, we could have scored three or four more goals,” Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice told TNT Sports.
“Sometimes, you have to lose a few to win, you have to overcome some of these setbacks to grow as a player and a team.
“We are growing as a team, but we need to keep pushing and believing. This is why we play. There will be setbacks on the way.
“PSG have gone through, but this isn’t going to define us. We’ll be back and we’ll get our players back and will be a much stronger outfit.”
Source
:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
