Arsenal suffered their first defeat in the Europa League this season as PSV beat Mikel Arteta’s side 2-0 in Eindhoven. The Gunners had won all four of their UEL group fixtures prior to this game, but this result now means they may need to beat Zurich in their final group game to avoid playing the extra playoff round tie. PSV now lead the Gunners on head 2 head, and if the Dutch side beat Bodo/Glimt on the final matchday, Arsenal will have to win against Zurich- a draw will simply not do.
PSV’s win means makes them only the second side to beat Arsenal in 22/23- Manchester United being the other. Somewhat interestingly, the Eredivisie outfit are currently managed by former United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy.
PSV were good value for their win- they had three goals (two from Cody Gakpo and one fine individual effort from Xavi Simons) disallowed by VAR. They took the lead through Joey Veerman’s strike 10 minutes after the interval and sealed victory through Luuk de Jong’s header following a mistake from Aaron Ramsdale in the Arsenal goal.
The Gunners, who were wearing a special pair of white shorts for this game to avoid a kit clash, will face Nottingham Forest in the league over the weekend.
