Arsenal travelled to the Netherlands hoping to secure a positive first leg result in the Philips Stadion.
Mikel Arteta made two changes from Arsenal’s previous Premier League encounter as Thomas Partey and Myles Lewis-Skelly came in to the side.
A positive first leg result to take back to the Emirates Stadium was the aim for the Gunners and Declan Rice saw an early effort ruled out for offside.
After a scare with PSV hitting the crossbar, Rice then produced a wonderful cross for Dutch defender Jurrien Timber to head home at the back post.
Arsenal doubled their lead soon after with a goal made in Hale End as Lewis-Skelly cut the ball back for Ethan Nwaneri to smash the ball past the PSV keeper.
Mikel Merino then put the Gunners in a dream position as he capitalised on some horrendous defending from the home side to coolly bend the ball into the far corner.
PSV were given a route back into the game just before half time as Partey was adjudged to have fouled Luuk De Jong in the penalty area and Noa Lang converted the spot kick.
Just one minute into the second half, a cross from Nwaneri was parried out from the PSV keeper for captain Martin Odegaard to slot home into a virtually empty net.
The fifth soon followed for Arteta’s side as some great play from the substitute Riccardo Calafiori set up Leandro Trossard to deftly dink the ball into the net.
Odegaard rounded off the victory with a sixth following a great strike from the edge of the area that was too hot for the keeper to handle. Calafiori notched a remarkable seventh five minutes from time.
READ MORE:
Arsenal were rampant in their victory and put their recent goal drought well and truly behind them. With that said, here are the winners and losers from the Gunners first leg clash with PSV Eindhoven.
Winners from Arsenal’s clash with PSV
Jurrien Timber
Timber revealed he was pleased with Ben White’s return before the game in order to provide healthy competition for the right back spot and Timber certainly rose to the challenge.
In what would have been an emotional night given his Ajax connection, Timber was on the front foot from the very first whistle, pressing high up the pitch.
He was tenacious in his defending and looked comfortable on the ball, of course his night was rounded off with a vital header at the back post following Rice’s excellent cross.
Ethan Nwaneri
Nwaneri made Champions League history before the game joining Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham as the only English players to play in the Champions League knockout stage before they turned 18.
The academy graduate was exceptional on the night once again and alongside Timber gave PSV a torrid evening down the Arsenal right flank.
He took his goal was such conviction, blasting the ball into the net following a great pick out from Lewis-Skelly and his overall play was that of a player much beyond his tender age of just 17.
Mikel Merino
Merino has been asked to play one of the most vital positions on the pitch for Arsenal in recent weeks having had little to no experience as a striker.
He delivered with two goals against Leicester and thoroughly deserved his goal against PSV after a brilliant performance under the circumstances.
The Spaniard was a nuisance to the PSV defence all night, showed some neat touches in his link play and finished his opportunity like a seasoned forward as he stroked the ball into the far corner.
It may not have been the stellar first season that Merino was hoping for in an Arsenal shirt but he deserves a lot of credit for how he is striving to help the team in adversity.
Martin Odegaard
Odegaard has received a lot of criticism in recent weeks for not producing goals and assists but the captain answered those tonight.
He was excellent from start to finish and rounded off his brilliant all round play with two goals and a sublime assists for Calafiori.
Mikel Arteta
Arteta came into this clash under pressure – defeat could have ended Arsenal’s season. However, the boss was brave in his team selection and made a smart tactical move in play by bringing off Lewis-Skelly early on.
The Gunners boss will now be hoping his side can continue their momentum in front of goal to finish the domestic campaign strong and have a real march at Europe’s illustrious competition.
Losers from Arsenal’s clash with PSV
Myles Lewis-Skelly
Despite registering an assist and being a constant threat down the left hand side for the Gunners, Lewis-Skelly was withdrawn from the game just over half an hour in.
The young defender was booked in the 24th minute and just a couple of minutes later, he could have seen red for another mistimed challenge as he went to block a cross into the box.
Calafiori came on for Lewis-Skelly and did well but it is one area of his game that he needs to improve moving forward, he is not use to Arteta in the dressing room early.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
