Match Day Thread Arsenal vs. Paris Saint Germain (UCL Group A) Official Match Thread 2016/17

BBC saying a higher score draw than 1-1 means PSG top the group

 

Or later winner from us.

 

That would make sense as they've scored more away goals. I guess goal difference counts for nothing.

 

Combine Cavani's movement with Giroud's finishing and you have a world class striker.

 

Yes any win against Ludogorets means PSG tops the group. I do not care though, we are not good enough anyway, so the sooner we are kicked out of CL the better. I really do not care, they just do not deserve it. All that was needed today was not to concede more than one goal... And we duly ****ed up.

 

Disappointing to draw after taking the lead, but a draw was probably about right in the end.

 

Not a whole lot of point watching the draw whenever it is, already know who we're getting

 

Oh well on the balance of play we are probably lucky to get the draw, we look out of our depth at this level.

 

oh well, Barca it is, then.

 

Problem is, 2:2 was not a draw today, PSG got exactly what they needed, hence they won. And we lost.

 

Much better second half performance, showed some proper fight, upped the pace significantly and really put some pressure on PSG. They couldn't handle the intensity of our forward play but always look dangerous on the counter.

Little bit of luck for our second, little bit of luck for theres. Draw probably a fair result in the end.

Really exciting game of football with a bit of everything on show. Some great defending from both teams, some sloppy defending, lazy attacking coupled with fast paced aggressive attacking, a penalty, possession football, counter attacking football, tactical then end to end. The game changed so many times!

I thought Giroud was really good. He is working really hard to earn his place in the team and he is having a big impact. His closing from the front today was really effective.

The reverse pass from Ozil was for me the best moment of skill in the game, he is capable of producing the moments of magic we need. The PSG defenders completely bought into his faked shot.

It's a shame the head to head means PSG get the slight edge, both teams have performed to a very similar level in the group with joint points, draws in both games against each other. We edge the GD, they edge the head to head on away goals. It all comes down to the last game. If PSG are overconfident and Ludogorets play how they have in flashes against us it could still open back up for us to top the group.

We might not have got the result we wanted but I really enjoyed the game. Games against the top teams in Europe, particularly when they are exciting like that are some of the highlights of the season for me even if we don't get exactly what we want from the game. I love watching Arsenal in the CL.

 

The head to head rule is ****e. We are ahead on GD and we've drawn both games against PSG. I think it's harsh to find ourselves in 2nd based on that.

 

Yeah I think it's a bit harsh to find ourselves in second having drawn both games with PSG and outperformed them against the others in the group.

I think we've done well in the group stage. And there's still the chance PSG mess up the final game.

 

PSG were the better team in both games, they deserve to win the group

 

We have a GD of +3 on PSG, that should count for more than them scoring 1 more away goal in the head to head.

 

Arguable. I think they were definitely the best team in the first game but we got the equaliser and Ospina had a blinder.

Today I thought we were the better team in the end. PSG had the better first half but from about 40 mins until just before they got there equaliser we were all over them like a bad rash and then it was end to end. It could be argued both ways and I think a draw was fair but I don't think there performances against us mean they deserve to top the group.

They've not been as good us as against the other teams in the group and we've drawn both games even if you think PSG played better in our games against each other.

I think both have a good claim to the top spot tbh.

 

In the end Wenger will say that we finished second just by one away goal, yet again. As we always do in CL. But the point is, this is not "just" one away goal. This is the one that counts, the one we had to fight for. And our opponents get it time after time, and we don't. One positive is we can now play a weakened team away against Basel, can leave Sanchez and Kos in London and give them some rest.

 

You'd just assume PSG will win and go with a weakened team?

Not sure how I'd approach the final game of the group. If PSG slip up and we haven't played a full team and don't get the win, it would have been a chance to top the group we didn't take and people would slate Wenger for it. At the same time it's most likely PSG will win and our result won't matter. Tough call to make.

 

Giroud has scored with nine of his past 11 shots on target for Arsenal in all competitions

 

Twice as many goals as shots on target in that game.