Arsenal secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a 9-3 aggregate victory over PSV Eindhoven after a 2-2 draw in the second leg of their last-16 encounter on Wednesday.
Progress was virtually guaranteed for the London side after their stunning 7-1 win in the Netherlands last week. When Oleksandr Zinchenko gave them the lead in the fifth minute, PSV feared another heavy defeat. However, Ivan Perisic responded for the visitors with a brilliant finish in the 18th minute, lifting the spirits of the vocal PSV supporters.
Declan Rice restored Arsenal’s lead before halftime with a header from Raheem Sterling’s precise cross, but PSV were rewarded for a much-improved second-half performance when Couhaib Driouech calmly slotted in an equalizer in the 70th minute.
With the outcome already decided, many home fans left early, but PSV’s loyal supporters stayed until the end, nearly seeing their team snatch an unlikely victory when substitute Luuk de Jong’s header went narrowly wide in stoppage time.
Although Arsenal’s progress was comfortable, it came at a cost as Sterling, who was given a rare start, picked up a yellow card for a reckless tackle, meaning he will miss the first leg of next month’s quarter-final against Real Madrid.
Zinchenko, who had never scored in European competition, opened the scoring with a fantastic goal, receiving Sterling’s pass, cutting in from the right, and firing past PSV goalkeeper Walter Benitez. This goal put Arsenal 8-1 ahead on aggregate, with Bayern Munich’s record 12-1 Champions League knockout win over Sporting in 2008-09 seemingly in sight.
However, Arsenal chose not to chase records and played with control, advancing to the quarter-finals for the second consecutive season, having been eliminated by Bayern Munich last year.
“We’ve done it consistently, and now we want to take the next step, which will be very challenging. But we are more than capable of doing that,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. “We are a club, a team that wants to be the best and compete with the top clubs in the world. To achieve that, we have to be there consistently. It’s difficult, but we’ve done it for two years in a row. We have the ability and potential to do even better.”
