EINDHOVEN — Arsenal‘s bid to top Group A will go to the final match of the pool stages as they fell to a 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven. The Eredivisie side flourished in front of their home support as they took full advantage of a poor Arsenal performance to ensure they only need one point next week against Bodo/Glimt to reach the knockouts.
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PSV had three goals disallowed due to offside calls, but made two efforts count in the second-half as Joey Veerman opened the scoring in the 55th minute with a neatly placed shot past Aaron Ramsdale. Luuk de Jong‘s introduction at the break turned the match firmly in PSV’s favour and he scored their second in the 63rd minute as he got ahead of Aaron Ramsdale at a corner to put PSV 2-0 up.
Arsenal emptied the bench, bringing on a host of their regular starters, but PSV’s intensity did not let up as they recorded an impressive victory.
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Rapid reaction
1. Arsenal stumble
While Arteta said earlier in the week he expects elite players to be able to cope with a 70-match season, he could’ve done with getting a result on Thursday evening as the last thing he needs is an extra match to contend with. The format of this year’s Europa League means the runner up in a pool faces one of the third-placed Champions League sides in an extra match to see who gets through to the next stage of the knockouts.
Any result tonight for Arsenal would’ve secured top spot, but the defeat means that as things stand, Arsenal have a two-point advantage over PSV heading into the final round of games meaning they cannot afford to step off the gas when they host FC Zurich next week. Arteta has spoken recently about having too thin a squad to be able to rotate in the Premier League and the stand-in players on Thursday hardly put forward a firm case to force their way into the starting line-up anytime soon. This was as poor a night for Arsenal as it was a memorable one for hosts PSV.
