It is entirely true that given the balance of play and chances created, Arsenal were extremely lucky to have escaped with a draw. A more clinical team, say Barcelona or Bayern would have given Arsenal a good old shellacking and would be out of sight by the time Arsenal got their equalizer. But if you take a step back and objectively look at the game again, bereft of all the nail biting, emotional, aneurysm-inducing reactions to the live game, it will become clear that this was a game of distinctly 2 halves.
For the better part of the second half, Arsenal had PSG pegged in their half. However, as is becoming painfully regular with Arsenal these days, they failed to really stretch the PSG defense as they probed patiently for an opening. Almost too patiently. I have heard many Arsenal players, past and present, talk about how Arsene Wenger often impresses the need for patience on them in training. Wenger is firmly convinced that the chances will come so you don't need to rush things. There clearly is some sense in that, but don't expect the fans to thank you for that. And when you play teams like PSG and even better teams, in the Champions League, those chances will be few and far between. And not all teams will be as profligate as PSG was. Playing on the counter as they tired and Arsenal grew more dominant, PSG had some very dangerous chances that Cavani in particular should have put away. But for someone to suggest that "PSG continued to have the better of the play after the break" is to suggest a lack of understanding of the difference between "play" and "chances." The reality is that while Arsenal had the better of the play, PSG had the better of the chances. Most of the chances created by PSG in the second half were either on the counter or totally against the run of play. By the time Arsenal scored their equalizer in the 77th minute, it was nothing less than they deserved on the basis of the second half display. Granted, PSG could have, and should have been 2 or 3 goals to the good in spite of being on the back foot for most of the half.
Then there came the part where Wenger's selection for this game was questioned. The majority of the changes were enforced to some degree. Walcott was reported to have a knee injury and Wenger continues to proclaim that Giroud has yet to be fully fit after arriving late from EURO 2016. But some people seem to conclude that it was unthinkable that David Ospina would start in goal ahead of Petr Cech. Wenger has often stressed that he believes he has 2 world class goalkeepers in Ospina and Cech. I can understand how the selection could be questioned before the game. But after the game and how things turned out, one has to be extremely churlish and opinionated to continue to proclaim confusion at the manager's decision in this regard. We talked about how PSG had numerous chances and spurned them. But the truth is that much of that was down to some terrific saves made by Ospina. It is not out of place to say that Ospina kept Arsenal in the game on more than one occasion in this game.
Not only did Ospina's saves help earn Arsenal's point today, but also think about the fact that he is the number 1 keeper for Colombia. Colombia has been ranked in the top 5 of world football for most of the last 5 years, much of which was when Ospina has remained their No 1. The Czech Republic has never cracked the top 20 even with Petr Cech in goal. I am not suggesting that this fact alone makes Ospina a better keeper than Cech. But if a top 5 nation believes that Ospina is good enough to be their No 1, why are we still tying ourselves in knots anytime he is selected to man the posts at club level? When you look back at his performances for Colombia in the 2 Copa America tournaments in 2015 and 2016 as well as the World Cup in 2014, Ospina has been doing exactly what he did tonight for a long time. His saves almost always prove to be pivotal allowing his outfield players to then take advantage, leading to Colombia being one of the more consistent nations on the FIFA rankings.
As it turned out, Arsenal could even have stolen all three points late on as Areola in the PSG goal was called upon to make his own world class save when Arsenal finally got PSG on the ropes toward the end.
Most Arsenal fans would have taken a draw from the game had it been offered before the first whistle and regardless of how wasteful PSG and how lucky Arsenal were, this was expected to be Arsenal's toughest match in this group and to come out of it with a draw is a sign that if Arsenal keep things under control, progress out of the group as group winners is not unreachable and with it a potentially easier knockout phase match-up.
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