PSV vs Arsenal LIVE: Champions League result and reaction as Gunners make history with huge win
PSV 1-7 Arsenal: An extraordinary night saw the Gunners became the first away team in Champions League history to score seven goals in a knockout stage match
Arsenal have more than one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals after scoring seven goals in an extraordinary away win at hapless PSV Eindhoven.
The Gunners have struggled for goals in recent weeks - failing to score in three of their last four games - but Mikel Arteta’s side sparked into life in a devastating 7-1 win.
Goals from Jurrien Timber, 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri and makeshift striker Mikel Merino put the visitors in a barely believable position before half-time.
Noah Lang pulled one back from the penalty spot, but Arsenal scored just seconds after the restart as Martin Odegaard restored their three-goal cushion.
Leandro Trossard added another two minutes later, with Odegaard notching his second and Riccardo Calafiori rounding off a superb evening for the north Londoners with a seventh.
The Gunners became the first away team in Champions League history to score seven goals in a knockout stage match and next week’s second leg at the Emirates is all but a formality.
Arsenal can start to look forward to the next round, where they will face either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals. Follow all the Champions League reaction with our live blog below:
Next up
Arsenal’s next match comes at Old Trafford as they face Manchester United on Sunday, 9 March. Kick-off there is at 4.30pm.
PSV face Heerenveen on Saturday, before the second leg of this tie takes place on Wednesday, 12 March at 8pm.
Peter Bosz reacts
PSV manager Peter Boss looks understandably defeated.
He calls the game a “terrible night for us”.
“No chances, maybe two moments in the game. Two moments for us to come back into the game but football-wise, we had no chance.
“Arsenal played well, fantastic. Poor from our side, not at all the football we play normally.
“We had a plan, we analysed them, we thought we could hurt them. But if you look at how we defended, it was really poor. You cannot be successful if you play this way.
“I couldn’t imagine I could ever lose this big [a margin]. We have to accept it, but it’s hard,” he adds.
Arteta reacts
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says that he is “so happy for the boys because in the last two games, we haven't scored a goal and we know the noise around that."
On PSV, he adds: "Momentum can shift and this is a team that is very used to winning. They have the capacity to generate chances in a lot of moments. You don't want to put yourself in the position where they score a second one and it is game on."
On the overall performance: "This is the beauty of football. Focus on what you are doing and do your best. Anything can happen."
Champions League results
Unsurprisingly, this match was the most one-sided of the night, but here are the other results from an intriguing evening in the Champions League:
PSV 1-7 Arsenal
Club Brugge 1-3 Aston Villa
Real Madrid 2-1 Atletico Madrid
Dortmund 1-1 Lille
The symbolic goal behind Arsenal’s ridiculous, record-breaking night
Boring, boring Arsenal? Not in carnival week in Eindhoven. Many a colourful disguise has been donned in this corner of the Netherlands in the last few days and Mikel Arteta’s roundheads took the guise of cavaliers for an evening of riotous, and at times ridiculous, fun. The team who couldn’t score became the first in Champions League history to score seven goals in an away knockout match.
There was much to relish. Particularly a symbolic second goal: made by an 18-year-old, for a 17-year-old, the first time two teenagers ever combined for a Champions League goal for an English club. Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri represent the success of the Hale End academy and the hopes for the future.
The symbolic goal behind Arsenal’s ridiculous, record-breaking night
Odegaard on Nwaneri
There’s more from Odegaard on Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly, who he is full of praise for.
"They play like they’ve been here for many years already.
“They have so much quality, so much confidence. You have to enjoy it.
“I try to help them. Obviously I've been in a similar position. For them it’s such a natural thing.
“They’re here, they’re ready for it. It’s a joy to play with them.”
On a potential tie against Real Madrid, he adds: “It would be special to go back there, but any team is an amazing team at this stage.
“Whoever we get we will enjoy it.”
Odegaard reacts
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is speaking to Amazon now, and he says that “after the last few games I think needed a performance like this”.
“Unfortunately we conceded one goal but apart from that it was a top performance.
“We work hard every day to improve, especially after performances like the West Ham one, we want to do better. We always work hard, and today it clicked.
“Of course, I think every player in my position wants to influence the game. For me this season I haven’t been good enough.”
On his side’s goalscoring woes, he adds: “I think we’ve had a little extra focus on it after the last few games. We know we have the quality.
“We create so much, and we know we have it there [the ability].”
More from Rice & Timber
Speaking on Nwaneri, he adds: “All of the lads have taken him under our wing, they deserve to be playing. He was brilliant tonight.
“Even if Saka was still here Ethan would be in and around the team getting minutes. We have plenty more going through as well.”
Timber finishes by saying that Arsenal still have to finish the job: “Finish it, then after we’ll see,” he adds.
Rice & Timber react
Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice are first to speak to Amazon Prime, with the Dutchman saying that Arsenal “showed today that we’re capable of a lot and we put ourselves in a good position for next week”.
“It was nice to open the scoring. I have to win here. An amazing win here,” adds Timber.
Rice adds that Arsenal “were fluid, we had enthusiasm, the drive, the hunger”.
“We’ve been playing like this all season. We feel as players we’ve been doing well. We need to keep pushing as a team with the mentality. It was a massive performance.”
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