Mikel Arteta's side put up a fight in the second half on Wednesday, but were undone by the French champions at Parc des Princes
Arsenal went crashing out of the Champions League with a 2-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the second-leg of their semi-final tie on Wednesday. Goals from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi sealed a 3-1 aggregate win for the French giants despite Bukayo Saka's second-half strike, and they will go on to face Inter in the final.
Mikel Arteta's men did have their chances. They threatened early on when Declan Rice rose above Marquinhos to meet a dangerous ball, but his header went wide. Shortly afterwards, Gianluigi Donnarumma stopped a Gabriel Martinelli effort from six yards out before saving again from Martin Odegaard.
PSG managed to poke holes in Arsenal after a while and came close when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia hit the post from the edge of the box. William Saliba put his team under pressure, meanwhile, when his wayward pass gave the hosts a clear run at goal, but the defender was relieved to see Desire Doue squander the chance.
Disaster struck for the visitors through the guise of Fabian Ruiz, who brought down Thomas Partey's failed clearance, picked his moment and his spot and lashed home a beauty from 18 yards. Arsenal were then scrambling again moments later through a Kvaratskhelia-led counter-attack, but Rice slid in to prevent Bradley Barcola from doubling PSG's lead.
Midway through the second half, Saka saw a fine strike saved by Donnarumma to show Arsenal were not dead and buried. They were, however, dealt a brutal blow moments later when the referee was told to check the pitchside monitor to review a possible handball in the Gunners' box, ending with the official pointing to the spot. Vitinha, however, hesitated in the run up and David Raya got low to keep it out.
The renewed hope did not last long, though. Partey again failed to deal with the danger as Achraf Hakimi rushed in to meet Kvaratskhelia's pass and combined with substitute Ousmane Dembele before a fine finish.
With 15 minutes left, Arsenal pulled one back as Leandro Trossard won the ball and found Saka, who steered it beyond Donnarumma. He then had a great chance to pull his team level on the evening when faced with an open goal but he missed the target as the north London team's European dream came to an end.
GOAL rates Arsenal's players from Parc des Princes…
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David Raya (7/10):
Pulled off a vital penalty save to keep Arsenal in the tie with 20 minutes left. Had no chance with either of the goals.
Jurrien Timber (5/10):
Was tormented by Kvaratskhelia at times and struggled in offering support to Saka in attack.
William Saliba (4/10):
Gifted PSG a great chance and could barely keep up with their attackers.
Jakub Kiwior (4/10):
Won a few balls in the air but had a tough time up against Doue.
Myles Lewis-Skelly (5/10):
A very tame performance. Could do nothing going forward and was run over when PSG burst forward.
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Martin Odegaard (4/10):
Had next to no impact on the game.
Thomas Partey (5/10):
Tame clearance fell straight to Ruiz for the goal. Dangerous with his throw-ins and had a few good tackles, but made plenty of mistakes – including for PSG's second goal.
Declan Rice (6/10):
Beat Marquinhos to a header early on but sent it wide and then made an important tackle at the other end in a sturdy performance.
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Bukayo Saka (7/10):
Tried to put his speed and skill to good use but was unable to connect with team-mates. Forced Donnarumma into an excellent save before finally getting one over the line.
Mikel Merino (4/10):
Only had one shot and was easily kept quiet by the defence.
Gabriel Martinelli (5/10):
Had a golden early chance to score, but his effort was saved.
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Riccardo Calafiori (6/10):
Set up Saka with a dangerous ball in, but the forward missed.
Leandro Trossard (6/10):
Did a good job to create the goal shortly after coming on.
Ben White (N/A):
A late replacement for Timber.
Mikel Arteta (6/10):
Set his team up to give their hosts trouble and they did right from the off – and even after going 2-0 down. They simply couldn't take their chances, though, underlying the issues Arteta will be desperate to address this summer.