LONDON (AP) — Ousmane Dembele’s early goal gave Paris Saint-Germain a 1-0 win over Arsenal on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal.
Dembele opened the scoring in the fourth minute after he was left all alone in the Arsenal area and was picked out by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for a first-time finish that snuck in via the far post.
PSG had lost 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the league phase in October but showed no hesitation in taking the game to Arsenal from the start. Instead, it was the hosts that looked affected by the moment in their first Champions League semifinal since 2009 — despite having beaten Real Madrid 3-0 at home in the quarterfinals.
The hosts couldn’t cope with PSG’s pace in transition and the visitors’ lead easily could have been bigger after a dominant first half.
Arsenal thought it had equalized shortly after the break when Mikel Merino headed in a free kick from Declan Rice, but it was disallowed for offside after a lengthy VAR check.
Substitutes Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos both had chances to double the lead late on when clear through on goal. But Barcola shot narrowly wide and Ramos rattled the crossbar to keep Arsenal in with a chance going into the second leg in Paris next week.
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AP soccer:
Mattias Karen, The Associated Press
