Arsenal marched into the Champions League semi-final with a tremendous performance and result in the Bernabeu.
Goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli gave the Gunners a 2-1 victory on the night and a stunning 5-1 aggregate win over Carlo Ancelotti’s stars.
Spain’s media slammed Saka’s penalty attempt as the Hale End star missed a first half spot kick after attempting a ‘Panenka’ but his miss did not prove costly as Arsenal coasted to victory.
Declan Rice was lauded for his performance in the Arsenal player ratings v Real Madrid and was named man of the match on the night but another Gunners defender was a huge factor in the victory over both legs.
Martin Keown praises Jakub Kiwior performance v Real Madrid
Speaking on TNT Sports post match coverage of Arsenal’s win over Real Madrid, former defender Martin Keown was full of praise for Jakub Kiwior.
The Polish international came into the tie under a lot of scrutiny having replaced Gabriel Magalhaes following his hamstring surgery.
Kiwior did not put a foot wrong across the two ties and despite the efforts of Kylian Mbappe pulling on to him in an attempt to expose any weaknesses, the Gunners man stood strong.
Keown stated: “I think a shout out to Kiwior as well because everyone was looking at him as a weakness in the team, no he stood up and played exceptionally well tonight.”
Jakub Kiwior match statistics v Real Madrid
Kiwior dominated in the air throughout the tie and was calm and composed on the ball amid the hostile atmosphere of the Bernabeu.
Real Madrid threatened to break away early in the second half with the score still at 0-0 but Kiwior made a perfectly-timed challenge on Vinicius Jr to stop the flow and this was typical of his display.
| Real Madrid v Arsenal match statistics | Jakub Kiwior |
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Clearances | 5 |
| Blocked shots | 2 |
| Tackles won | 1 |
| Ground duels won | 1/2 |
| Aerial duels won | 2/2 |
| Pass completion | 80% |
Rio Ferdinand’s verdict on Kiwior came true as the pundit believed that Kiwior’s first leg performance would provide a ‘catalyst’ for him to excel once again and that he certainly did.
Mikel Arteta is wary of PSG but his Gunners side should go into the clash full of confidence having demolished the European Champions in style.
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