It was an obligation that Arsenal had no choice but to fulfil, and they joined PSV Eindhoven in providing an adequately flamboyant display, with the resulting underwhelming result.
No one could have expected anything sharper, but one wonders exactly what it would take for Mikel Arteta to give Ethan Nwaneri, Reuell Walters or Lino Sousa a dose of big-game experience. Three youngsters in the traveling squad remained on the bench throughout the match and any of them could certainly have made more than, say, Gabriel Jesus, who came on as a substitute in the 89th minute.
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Arteta, on the other hand, could not shake his determination to close the group stage with a victory. Had Leandro Trossard or Jakub Kiwior scored in the last attack of the game, his wish would have been granted, but no one would have been able to leave that dead rubber feeling particularly unhappy. The two heavily rotated sides had already reached the last 16, Arsenal having secured their position at the top, so all that was left was to make a box-ticking exercise seem meaningful.
So Arteta’s reluctance to throw one of his youngsters a bone seemed jarring. “I don’t think this is the right context,” she said. “I’ve already made eight changes against a team that hasn’t lost at home for almost two years and I didn’t feel like it was the right moment.”
He stated that injury concerns, including Mohamed Elneny’s hamstring problem, had forced his hand in previous substitutions and a return to Emile Smith Rowe was a priority in the final stages.
This meant that his most notable experiment was his decision to send Declan Rice on for a half-hour’s work at centre-back. He replaced William Saliba and the move was apparently pre-planned. Arsenal lack defensive depth and Rice, who started his career at centre-back, is well-equipped to help in emergencies.
Ismael Saibari forced his way back into the role, stalling him just before he hit the inside of a post, but otherwise the pass went through successfully. “There are very few of us at the back and I wanted to try how we would handle this situation if something actually happened,” Arteta said. “I thought he was really good.”
Arsenal failed to reach that level on aggregate in a game that was notable for its lack of tough tackles or sustained intensity. Most of the cuts came from PSV and Johan Bakayoko, the 20-year-old Belgian international who was being courted by Brentford. They have won 15 matches in a row in the Eredivisie, and although they could not achieve the 2-0 win in last season’s Europa League, Peter Bosz’s team more than deserved the draw.
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When Arsenal made a fluent move, it led to a beautiful goal. They had done little for 42 minutes apart from a long-range Elneny strike which grazed a post but then came alive down the right wing. Reiss Nelson cleverly combined with Cédric Soares, who started his first Arsenal match for 13 months and was preferred over 18-year-old right-back Walters, who then passed the ball to Eddie Nketiah. From his perch just inside the penalty area, Nketiah slid the ball onto his left foot and then curled a delicate low shot past Walter Benítez.
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Saliba saw the combination of Gabriel Magalhãoes and Aaron Ramsdale somehow deny a double chance from close range in the sixth minute, as PSV closed in on Bakayoko and Yorbe Vertessen. Ramsdale was injured when he dived at the feet of Patrick van Aanholt, but continued after treatment; This was a relief to everyone who thought he had endured enough bad luck; Gabriel’s intervention to deny Ricardo Pepi’s follow-on was a masterclass in defensive reactions.
So PSV had already done more than enough to show that a response was possible, and five minutes into the second half, it was executed magnificently. Arsenal’s form was in doubt as PSV ran through three passes, but Vertessen, fed by Pepi, moved around the ball and fired a beautiful shot past Ramsdale. Cases remained open but opportunities were spurned on both sides and Kiwior blasted the last one well.
There was little opportunity for micro-analysis and Arteta was at his chatty best when assessing Arsenal’s Group B campaign as a whole. “It’s very positive,” he said. “Not participating in the competition [six] I think we’ve been competing really well for years and having a team that doesn’t have a lot of experience. “We now have to close this chapter by February.” The next European missions will be more meaningful.