Arsenal romped to a 7-1 first-leg win over PSV Eindhoven within the final 16 of the Champions League, just about sealing their passage to the quarter-finals within the course of.
The Gunners had been 3-1 up on the break, racing right into a three-goal lead due to Jurrien Timber’s header and strikes from Ethan Nwaneri and Mikel Merino.
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Noa Lang’s penalty threatened to spark a PSV comeback however solely briefly, as Arsenal got here firing out of the blocks within the second half to place the tie nicely past their Dutch opponents.
Targets from Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard put the tie nicely past the hosts inside three minutes of the restart, earlier than Arsenal’s captain bagged a second and arrange Riccardo Calafiori to fit house a seventh for Mikel Arteta’s ruthless facet.
Whereas missing in competitiveness, it was a recreation stuffed with incident, and essentially the most contentious speaking level got here following Arsenal’s third purpose of the night time, which was topic to a prolonged VAR examine.
Amid some comical PSV defending, Mikel Merino was gifted a possibility to stretch Arsenal’s lead after the ball broke to him within the penalty space, taking it with ease.
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However the purpose was doubtful for round 4 minutes, because the VAR officers checked for a potential offside towards the Spaniard within the build-up.
The ball was performed in Merino’s course by Jurrien Timber, however was blocked by PSV defender Ryan Flamingo earlier than it might attain Arsenal’s makeshift striker, who was in an offside place when the ball was performed.
Regardless of this, play continued, and it was Flamingo who gifted Merino a free shot at purpose after shedding his footing within the field.
However the determination to permit the purpose brought about some controversy, with pundits Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott disagreeing with the choice.
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg tried to clarify why the purpose was given, which got here by a subjective name from the VAR group.
Talking on Amazon Prime Video’s stay protection, he mentioned: “It is a very subjective name. When the ball’s truly performed, everyone knows Merino’s in an offside place. Does the defender intentionally play the ball, or does he block the ball?
“I agree with Wayne that he blocks the ball, and due to this fact, if he blocks the ball, it isn’t in a managed method, and due to this fact, it ought to have been given as an offside.
“[The VAR] believes that he is intentionally performed the ball by that motion of sliding to dam the ball. He believes that is a deliberate play, and due to this fact, that is why they’ve given the purpose, however I do not agree with it.”
Arsenal welcome PSV to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday twelfth March for the second leg, with both Actual Madrid or Atletico Madrid awaiting within the quarter-finals.
The Champions League holders will take a slender result in the Metropolitano Stadium, with Brahim Diaz’s winner handing Carlo Ancelotti’s facet a 2-1 victory on the Santiago Bernabeu.
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