Paris, May 8 (IANS) Paris Saint-Germain will play Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League final after a 2-1 win at home to Arsenal saw them emerge victorious 3-1 on aggregate.
Arsenal had chances to get back into contention and even overturn the tie, only to be frustrated time after time by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Although Arsenal had struggled to control last week’s first leg against PSG’s three-man midfield, Mikel Arteta’s players quickly showed they had come to Paris to overturn the first leg defeat, reports Xinhua.
The game was barely a minute old when Jurrien Timber crossed for Declan Rice to head just wide.
The visiting side looked to asphyxiate PSG high up the field, with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli both active, and Martinelli forced the first of Donnarumma’s excellent saves on the night, when he almost bundled in Thomas Partey’s long throw.
The Italian produced an even better stop in the seventh minute when another long throw from Partey fell to Martin Odegaard, whose low drive looked destined to end up in the net until Donnarumma got down to make a fine block.
Arsenal pressed forward and gave the home side options on the break, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia hitting the post before Fabian Ruiz opened the scoring in the 27th minute.
The midfielder latched onto Partey’s headed clearance from a free kick to control on his chest and lashed home a powerful volley that deflected off William Saliba.
It should have been 2-0 when Kvaratskhelia launched another break before sliding the ball to Desire Doue, who should have scored but hit the ball tamely at goalkeeper David Raya.
PSG started the second half strongly until Saka got into the game with a deflected cross and another curling shot that again drew a fine response from Donnarumma.
Vitinha should have sealed the tie for PSG from the penalty spot in the 69th minute after VAR spotted a handball from Myles Lewis-Skelly. Vitinha looked to fool Raya with a hop-skip-and-jump run up, but the goalkeeper got down well to block his weak effort.
It was only a temporary stay of execution for Arsenal after Achraf Hakimi finished low into the side of the net in the 72nd minute as Arsenal failed to clear a ball in the area.
Saka pulled a goal back for Arsenal four minutes later as he bundled home a cross from Leandro Trossard, but PSG held firm to see out the win.
Qualification is a personal triumph for former Spain boss Luis Enrique, who saw his side lose Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid in the summer, but has won Ligue 1 and now reached the Champions League final for the second time in PSG’s history.
–IANS
bc/
