Late in Arsenal’s Champions League loss to PSG, Bukayo Saka missed an open goal, leaving him stunned.
Eighty minutes in, Gianluigi Donnarumma was left in the dust by a cross from Riccardo Calafiori, and the winger skied a sudden chance from yards out.
Saka’s goal had already given Mikel Arteta’s team a glimpse of hope, but they lost 3-1 overall and 2-1 on the night.
However, the ball fell to him from Calafiori’s cross and went over the bar, preventing him from doubling his total for the evening.
Fans were left wondering what would have happened if the forward had converted as he sat by the goalpost with his mouth open and head in his hands.
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“It was painful and it will hurt Saka,” Martin Keown said to TNT Sports. It will be two or three nights before he sleeps. However, he may take pride in his performance this evening. Saka was on the field, so we didn’t see much of (Nuno) Mendes in terms of attacking.
“It’s a tap in. It’s hard to be critical, but he’s got to be sticking that in the back of the net and then we’re in for a really entertaining 10 minutes,” Ally McCoist continued, adding, “if Saka scored that goal, I’d love to have seen the last 10 minutes. He should, but he just leant back. He got over it.” Owen Hargreaves added, “Maybe he takes his eye off it, maybe Donnarumma puts him off, tackle it, head it, that needs to go in.”
Mikel Merino missed a sitter, Declan Rice headed an early chance wide, and Donnarumma made saves to deny Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli, so he wasn’t the only player who failed to convert that evening.
Arsenal received high praise for their effort, especially in the first half, but Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi’s outstanding goals put an end to it.
Although I don’t think Arsenal should have lost tonight, I also don’t think they did enough to win the match. “They were defeated by two outstanding strikes tonight,” McCoist remarked.
They didn’t take any chances, but they’ve played better than they have in a long time, especially in the first half. When you’re ahead, you have to score. Over the two legs, the superior team has defeated them.
At the Parc des Princes, Arsenal had more shots on goal than any other side this season with 19.
However, they were only able to muster four shots on goal, and the outstretched body portion of a sparkling Donnarumma usually met what did land between the sticks.
Arteta told TNT Sports, “The goalie was the best player and made the difference in the tie.”
We’re out tonight, but I firmly believe that no team in the competition has been better than us thus far.
“The goalie was the best in both games, and this competition is about the boxes, which typically contain the strikers most of the time.”