Mikel Arteta joked that he knew a seven-goal haul was coming for his Arsenal side in his post-match press conference. I certainly did not, and to give you a glimpse behind the curtain, I and others in the build-up to the game here in the Netherlands were having discussions about one-goal scorelines in either direction.
With both sides in such poor form, it was such a hard game to predict as to how it might play out. PSV have scored in every home game this season and that record continued thanks to a poor penalty given away by Thomas Partey, however that was the last real sight of goal they had.
This is such a huge result for Arsenal and will carry them gleefully into the trip to Old Trafford as they look to get some revenge on Manchester United. There are so many themes from this game that could be discussed but football.london has picked out three key talking points that need to be covered.
It could have been so different
Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first and then we can cuddle up to the positive vibes that followed this. Myles Lewis-Skelly should have been sent off in this game.
I know I have seen the arguments against it, but if the shoe were on the other foot I would be beyond angry that a red card was not brandished. My theory is that there must have been some reflection from the first yellow, which was wrongly given after Lewis-Skelly got his foot to a stretching challenge but was called up anyway; this, therefore giving the official pause for thought when he took down Richard Ledezma before he aimed to cross the ball.
Equally, Ismael Saibari missed an absolute golden opportunity to give the home side the lead in the game, getting the rebound from David Raya’s parry out to the midfielder. His strike cannoned off the upright and then was put wide by his teammate Ivan Perisic. Had PSV taken the lead, and Arsenal been down to ten men, it would have been a very different affair.