The early goal of Ousmane Dembele pushed Paris Saint-Germain to a 1-0 victory in the first stage of their Champions League Semi-Final draw against Arsenal on Tuesday.
Dembele declined a 26-Pass movement to silence the Emirates Stadium in silence in the fourth minute and although Arsenal improved, they found Gianluigi Donnarumma in good shape after the break and must now destroy a shortage in France.
PSG did not waste time to continue and play by the Arsenal press to free up Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian found Dembele on the edge of the area and he sent a toxic left -wing strike of the distant pole and in.
With Arsenal in the pace in the opening phase, PSG almost rose 2-0, but Desire Done's inverted shot was well rolled away by David Raya.
What a start in Noord -Londen #ucl pic.twitter.com/flew2kwdro
– UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 29, 2025
Arsenal grew in the game in the last 15 minutes of the first half, although Gabriel Martinelli could not curl his finish around Donnarumma after he was played behind the visiting defense.
The Gunners thought they had an equalizer for two minutes in the second half when Mikel Merino Declan's deep free kick nodded at home, but after a VAR control of three minutes, the semi-automated offside technology confirmed that the Spaniard had not returned.
Leandro Trossard was subsequently refused by another full-stretch Donnarumma Save after he had given it in the left channel, while Bradley Barcola stroked the left stable after a smart link-up game by Kvaratskhelia and Goncalo Ramos.
Ramos also rattled the bar in the midst of a suspicion of offside in the 85th minute, while PSG established a one goal lead for next week's second stage in the Parc des Princes.
Data debrief: Dembele the difference
The Ligue 1 champions of Luis Enrique are not shy about their dedication to a possession-based playing style, and they came to the Emirates with a plan to control the game.
The goal of Dembele came after a series of 26 successful passes from PSG, their longest for a goal in a Champions League match since OPTA Records started in 2003-04.
It was Dembele's 33rd goal in all competitions this season. Among all players from Europe's top five competitions, only Robert Lewandowski (40), Harry Kane (36) and Kylian Mbappe (34) scored more.
That was the earliest goal of Champions League that Arsenal had admitted since another meeting with PSG in September 2016 (to Edinson Cavani in the first minute), and although they improved for half an hour after half an hour, five rescues of Donnarummma were a joint in a Champions League match this season.