Julius Okorie
Will luck and odds be on the side of Arsenal as they seek to win their first Champions League title this season?
That is the question on the mind of many after the Gunners ran riot against PSV in the first leg, first round of their two legged last 16 play-offs against PSV Tuesday night.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIn a night of eight goals thriller, Arsenal flagged off goals harvest as early as the 18th minute of the encounter at the Philips Stadion (Eindhoven, thanks to Jurriën Timber.
Nigeria born England junior international, Ethan Chidiebere Nwaneri, increased the tally for the Gunners three minutes later as Mikel Merino followed suit.
The cruise for Arsenal was only interrupted briefly by Penalty goal for PSV by Noa Noëll Lang which turned out to be the only consolation goal for the homer side in an encounter where the visitors were more like invaders who have come with one mission, to conquer and indeed they did.
Ordinarily, a 4-1 victory should have been good enough but the Gunners were not ready to stop, with Martin Ødegaard grabbing a brace.
With the result on Tuesday night, Arsenal made history, becoming the first team to score seven goals away from home in a Champions League knockout tie.
A quarter-final with the winner of the Madrid derby waits amid renewed hope that the Gunners can enjoy a special end to this season.
No one could possibly prevent Mikel Arteta from expressing delight after such a magnificent performance away, making return leg at the Emirates a mere formality.
He said: “I really enjoyed the match. Thank you to the players for the performance, they put in on a big night for us against a really good side.
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“The way they went through in the last round against Juventus was really impressive so the manner we have done it, the way we played, the goals that we scored, thank you because it was a special night.
“Obviously, it has given us a lot of joy and confidence and belief. In football, it is not what we did three days ago or two days ago, it is what we do tomorrow. We go to Old Trafford, how we behave and how we play will be to win a game and that is it.
“Enjoy tonight because it was a very impressive performance and an unbelievable score. I will take that. We deserved it. And now we keep improving as a team.”
The second leg in London next Wednesday, March 12 is effectively a dead rubber.
In other Champions League matches played Tuesday night, Aston Villa defeated Club Brugge who may be on their way out 3-1 away, and look good to consolidate in the return leg. Dortmund and Lille leave it open after 1-1 draw.
Reigning Champions, Real Madrid, take a 2-1 first leg advantage into the second play-off. The clashes continue today with Feyenoord taking on Inter Milan at home, Benfica host Barcelona this Ash Wednesday, PSG settle scores with Liverpool while Bayern Munich and Leverkusen slug it out in all German Bundesliga clash.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
