It was always likely to stand as a barometer for Arsenal as much as anything else. How would they measure up to Paris Saint-Germain, one of the powerhouses of the Champions League? Extremely well, was the answer.
On a night to bolster the collective belief for the bigger challenges ahead, especially those that will surely come after the group phase of this competition finally reaches it climax, Arsenal showed their mettle in the physical duels and a cut and thrust to delight their home crowd.
Kai Havertz scored with a towering header and when Bukayo Saka snaked a 35th minute free-kick through a mass of bodies inside the PSG area and in, past the partially sighted Gianluigi Donnarumma, Arsenal knew it was theirs to lose.
They would survive a few scares towards the end; a PSG goal could have made it interesting. But there was the overall sense of too many touches from PSG and not enough bite. It was Arsenal who made the statement.
Arteta stuck with the XI that started Saturday’s win over Leicester and the tactical battle was absorbing. Arsenal carried the fight with Havertz and Leandro Trossard at the top of their formation – each had the license to drop off – while it was noticeable at the outset that Riccardo Calafiori wanted to get up and across into central midfield from left-back.
How much did the result really matter? It is hard to see either of these teams failing to advance and there is the sense that nobody yet knows where to see the jeopardy in this reimagined group stage. The PSG ultras were in the mood to make the occasion more intense. They bounced as one seething mass 25 minutes before kick-off; as ever, the drum beat from their enclosure was a constant.
It was the Arsenal support who could celebrate in the 20th minute. After all of the early intricacies, it was an old-fashioned move with an old-fashioned finish that broke the deadlock, Havertz rising high to get to Trossard’s chipped ball from the inside left before Donnarumma. It was brave from Havertz; he risked harm as Donnarumma brought his hulking frame off his line.
Luis Enrique had made a statement before the game, leaving Ousmane Dembélé out of his PSG squad; the pair clashed after last Friday’s win over Rennes. The manager accused Dembélé, who is probably his highest-profile player, of disrespecting the team and it reinforced the message around the club these days. No more Galacticos. Less ego; more endeavour and unity. That said, it was a move that undoubtedly weakened PSG.
PSG could point to a Nuno Mendes blast that kissed the outside of the far post and an Achraf Hakimi effort that David Raya got up and over his own crossbar. The first half otherwise belonged to Arsenal. They were determined to show why Luis Enrique had described them as the best team in Europe without the ball. Calafiori and Jurrien Timber won big one-on-ones against Hakimi and Bradley Barcola respectively; Gabriel Magalhães celebrated when he ushered the ball out in front of Warren Zaïre-Emery.
But it was really about what Arsenal did in the final third before the interval. Saka had curled wide early on after a pass from Calafiori while Havertz crossed dangerously from the byline, nobody in red making the necessary run. Arsenal turned the screw at 1-0 and it was yet another set piece that gave them a cushion.
PSG stood accused of not doing their homework when Saka whipped over a low free-kick from the right. One by one, Arsenal players attacked the ball, getting in Donnarumma’s eye-line; first Gabriel Martinelli, then Gabriel and Thomas Partey. It simply went all the way through and in. From a PSG point of view, it was horribly soft and they were thankful it did not get even worse shortly afterwards, Donnarumma blocking at close quarters from Trossard.
PSG wanted Vitinha to dictate from in front of the back four; he had runners either side of him in Zaïre-Emery and João Neves. Vitinha’s appreciation of his angles and options, often in the tightest of spaces, is lovely to watch. More broadly, it was possible to see the strut in PSG. They needed more than decoration.
Arsenal ought to have made it 3-0 early in the second half, with Martinelli and Havertz blowing chances. Martinelli’s was the big one. It was a lovely one-touch move from right to left, starting with Saka, who was excellent from the outset – so explosive, so direct – and going through Trossard and Havertz. Martinelli was all alone only to volley straight at Donnarumma. The goalkeeper would be grateful that Havertz did likewise with a downwards header from Martinelli’s cross.
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Arteta got Mikel Merino on as a substitute for a belated debut, the summer signing having finally recovered from a shoulder injury, but PSG pressed onto the front foot in the closing stages. Arsenal appeared happy to invite them on, to preserve what they had, and there were nervy moments. Neves flicked a corner down and up against the crossbar while Raya parried a little riskily from Lee Kang-in’s curler.
Martinelli would be denied by Donnarumma once more, a fine save by the goalkeeper to his left, and PSG knew it would not be their night when a loose ball hit Calafiori’s hand and the referee, Slavko Vincic, ignored their penalty claims.