UEFA Champions League: Paris Saint-Germain 1 - 1 Arsenal - 5 talking points
Arsenal came from behind at Parc des Princes to earn a draw against Paris Saint-Germain in the first league game of group A of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League. Arsene Wenger’s side had their work cut after conceding as early as in the 42nd second as Edinson Cavani headed Unai Emery’s side ahead from Serge Aurier’s pin-point cross.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina was in prime form as he made a number of world-class saves to keep his side in the mix. The Gunners found their equaliser in the 77th minute when Alexis Sanchez rifled home the rebound from inside the box after Alphonse Areola had parried away Alex Iwobi’s shot.
Iwobi missed a late chance to win it for the North London outfit with the game coming to a bizarre conclusion and finished with 10 men on each side after Olivier Giroud and Marco Verrati were sent off for an off the ball altercation.
Here are the major talking points from Paris Saint-Germain’s 1-1 draw against Arsenal:
#1 David Ospina has a blinder
The entire Arsenal fanbase went into a meltdown when it was announced that Arsene Wenger had opted to start The Gunners’ Champion League campaign with David Ospina in between the sticks for the second consecutive season. The reaction of the fans was partly justified as The North London outfit had been down this road before, only last season when The Colombian was at fault for Arsenal’s loss in the opening two games of the Champions League.
However, at the end of it all, Ospina put to rest the ghost of last season and after a shaky start, which saw him concede in the first minute, put in a heroic display to help his side earn a draw. Ospina is a very good goalkeeper and puts in world class performances on a regular basis for Colombia, however, it was probably the first time that he had done so in an Arsenal shirt.
First, it was Cavani who was denied on numerous occasions by Ospina, before the Colombian made some excellent saves to deny Serge Aurier and Angel di Maria. With Petr Cech showing greater susceptibility at the near post in recent times, it may be worth a punt to put Ospina in goal for the Premier League matches, if only to just hand the Czech Republic international a reality check.