Ousmane Dembele struck an early winner as Paris Saint-Germain secured a 1-0 victory over Arsenal in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final at Emirates Stadium.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta had called for the supporters to bring the energy to produce one of the stadium’s greatest ever nights heading into the contest, but the crowd were silenced on four minutes when a slick attack saw Dembele fire in his 32nd goal of the season for club and country via the far post.
Desire Doue and Marquinhos both had chances to double PSG’s advantage while at the other end Gabriel Martinelli was denied by a magnificent save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Gunners improved following the interval with Mikel Merino’s header being chalked off by VAR for offside and Donnarumma again producing heroics to tip Leandro Trossard’s effort past the post.
PSG substitutes Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos then blew late chances to make it two, but the defeat still leaves Arteta’s men with it all to do heading into next week’s second leg.
Arsenal will now host Bournemouth in the Premier League before visiting the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.