Dembele sinks Arsenal as PSG seize edge in Champions League semifinal

Paris Saint-Germain seized the advantage in their Champions League semi-final against Arsenal as Ousmane Dembele sealed a 1-0 win in the first leg on Tuesday.

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Dembele struck in the opening minutes at the Emirates Stadium and Luis Enrique’s side held on to the lead with a composed display that kept Arsenal at bay.

PSG will head into the second leg at the Parc des Princes on May 7 as favourites to reach the final against Barcelona or Inter Milan as they look to win the tournament for the first time.

‘Still one match’

But the French champions should take nothing for granted given their history of epic European collapses.

“We showed the kind of team we are. We tried to play our way and scored the goal early playing that way,” PSG boss Luis Enrique said.

“We suffered sometimes but could have scored the second goal. The second match is going to be very tough.

“The result means a little advantage for us. We can go to the final but there is still one match.”

Arsenal’s first defeat in 18 home European matches was a painful blow to their own bid to win a first Champions League crown.

Mikel Arteta had labelled Arsenal’s run to the semi-finals a “beautiful story”.

The last chapter might make for frustrating reading, but Arteta insisted they aren’t dead and buried just yet.

‘It’s half time’

“We put so much into the game. It’s half time and we have a big chance to be in the final,” the Gunners boss said.

“We struggled in the first 15 minutes to get momentum and dominance, but in the end I was disappointed not to get a draw at least. That’s the margins, that’s the level.”

The Gunners had beaten holders Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate to reach their first Champions League semi-final since losing to Manchester United in 2009.

They could not replicate the swaggering display that blew Madrid away 3-0 in the first leg, despite a frenzied atmosphere as kick-off approached.

When Arsenal’s players gathered for a pre-match huddle in the tunnel, Declan Rice implored his team-mates to give everything as he roared: “If we don’t have the ball we die.”

But PSG had already eliminated Premier League champions Liverpool in the last 16 and Aston Villa in the quarter-finals, after coming back from two goals down to beat Manchester City in the league phase.

Arsenal were the one English side they had failed to conquer, losing 2-0 in north London in October.

However, PSG were without the influential Dembele for disciplinary reasons on that occasion and Luis Enrique insisted his side were “more complete” seven months on.

Dembele strikes

Dembele took just four minutes to prove the point as the France star started and finished a ruthless raid.

Taking possession in the centre circle, Dembele worked the ball out to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and the Georgian drove at Jurrien Timber with intent.

Dembele had carried on his run into the Arsenal area and Kvaratskhelia’s perfectly weighted pass picked him out for a clinical finish that went in off the far post.

Having seized the momentum, Dembele was proving hard for Arsenal to handle, his clever run and pass reaching Desire Doue for a low strike that David Raya saved at full stretch.

Arsenal had been out-gunned but they should have equalised just before half-time when Myles Lewis-Skelly’s sublime pass found Gabriel Martinelli, whose shot was superbly saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Arsenal thought they had drawn level two minutes into the second half when Mikel Merino headed home from Rice’s free-kick, but their celebrations were premature as VAR disallowed the goal for offside against the Spain midfielder.

Leandro Trossard was inches away from equalising when Rice’s pass sent him bursting into the PSG area for a shot that Donnarumma brilliantly tipped away.

Feeling the shift in the balance of power, PSG looked to take the sting out of the game by playing at a slower pace.

The tactic almost worked to perfection when Bradley Barcola sauntered through, but with just Raya to beat he dragged his shot wide of the far post.

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It was a woeful miss, leaving Luis Enrique holding his head in disbelief.

The PSG coach found himself in the exact same stunned pose moments later when Goncalo Ramos fired against the bar from close range as another big chance to double the visiting side’s lead late on went begging.