Arsenal

PSG held to 1-1 draw after Reims equalizes in stoppage time

Striker Folarin Balogun equalized deep into stoppage time as Reims earned a 1-1 draw at French league leader Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, keeping PSG three points ahead of second-place Lens. Balogun, who began his career at Premier League team Arsenal and stood out throughout the game with his movement, latched onto a long pass in the sixth minute of injury time. He easily beat veteran defender Sergio Ramos for pace before confidently shooting past goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. It was the 21-year-old forward's 11th league goal of the season and one less than PSG's scorer Neymar. Neymar struck in the 51st to move one behind league top scorer and teammate Kylian Mbappé, before PSG had midfielder Marco Verratti sent off for a dangerous tackle on Japan winger Junya Ito in the 59th. Verratti made his return from a thigh injury when he came on for the second half. Read more: Late goals help PSG beat 3rd-tier Châteauroux in French Cup Midtable Reims extended its unbeaten run to 12 games, which included holding PSG to a 0-0 draw at home in October, and was the better side in the first half. Donnarumma almost gave a goal away after 23 seconds when he hacked a back pass straight to the opposition but got away with it. Balogun went close midway through the first half and teammate Marshall Munetsi — a midfielder with Zimbabwe — also caused problems for PSG's static defense. Referee Ruddy Buquet awarded Reims a penalty shortly after Neymar's goal for a foul on Balogun but changed his mind following a video review. In the end, Balogun had his say. PSG has won only one of its last four league games, losing two, and coach Christophe Galtier acknowledged there is a problem. “We were soporific in the first half, we were quickly split in two and we were on the back foot,” he said. “We abandoned our defense.” Since the World Cup, PSG has won only two of its five league games and both have been against strugglers. PSG needed an injury-time penalty from Mbappé to beat Strasbourg 2-1, and it beat rock-bottom Angers 2-0. With a much tougher test against Bayern Munich approaching in the round of 16 of the Champions League, PSG needs to improve fast. Either side of playing Bayern on Feb. 14, PSG has two away games at bitter rival Marseille, in the French Cup and in the league. Marseille is only five points behind PSG in third spot. Earlier, striker Gaetan Laborde scored the winner as Nice beat Lille 1-0 to end the northern side's six-game unbeaten run. Laborde netted in the 34th minute after Badredine Bouanani intercepted a poor back pass and set him up for a first-time finish. Lille had not lost in the league since Oct. 30. Read more: Leader PSG loses 3-1 at Lens for 1st defeat; Monaco in 4th TEMPERS FLARE Alexandre Lacazette notched his 12th league goal of the season as Lyon won 2-0 at Corsican side Ajaccio to move into ninth place. Tempers flared after the game as Lyon coach Laurent Blanc grabbed Ajaccio coach Olivier Pantaloni's face after they had shaken hands, and shoved him away following a verbal exchange. Pantaloni, who played for Ajaccio as a striker in the 1990s, then walked over to Lyon's bench and clashed with Lyon's goalkeeper coach Rémy Vercoutre. Security officials had to separate them as angry home fans banged on the dugout. Lacazette cut short his post-game television interview when a lighter thrown from the crowd landed near him. Vercoutre had to be escorted away as fans insulted him and some tried to get on the field. The visitors took the lead in the 20th when 20-year-old midfielder Johann Lepenant turned in Bradley Barcola's pass. Lacazette, who re-joined hometown Lyon in the summer after five seasons in the Premier League with Arsenal, scored his 144th goal overall for the club in the 72nd. France's 2018 World Cup winner Corentin Tolisso and Argentina's World Cup-winning left back Nicolás Tagliafico combined to set him up. OTHER MATCHES Dutch forward Thijs Dallinga scored twice for Toulouse in a 2-1 win at struggling Strasbourg. Veteran striker Kevin Gameiro put the Alsace side ahead in the 20th, but Dallinga equalized for Toulouse five minutes later and struck again early in the second half. Strikers Jérémy Le Douaron and Steve Mounie scored first-half goals for Brest in a 4-0 home win against bottom side Angers. Midfielders Franck Honorat and Pierre Lees-Melou scored after the break. English forward Stephy Mavididi scored both goals as Montpellier got a much-needed 2-0 win at 19th-place Auxerre to move away from relegation trouble, and Clermont drew 0-0 at home to Nantes.

1 year ago

Arsenal’s 25-year run in European competition on the line

So much for Arsenal being one of the elite soccer clubs in Europe. Three weeks after being among the instigators of the controversially closed-off and ultimately ill-fated Super League, the English team is facing the ignominy of being shut out of continental competition for the first time in 25 years. A failure to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Villarreal in the Europa League semifinals on Thursday would end Arsenal’s quarter-century run of participating in either the Champions League or UEFA’s secondary club competitions. Such a degrading of status would be ironic, considering the planned Super League — devised and then aborted within a chaotic 48-hour period last month — would have positioned Arsenal as one of 12 elite teams in the European game. The significance of the match against Villarreal, likely to be played against the backdrop of more fan protests against Arsenal’s American ownership for its involvement in the Super League project, isn’t lost on Mikel Arteta. “It is a big moment,” the Arsenal manager said. “Not for me but for the club, for everything that has happened in the last two years, in the last months, and for all the instability that we have been hit with for many different reasons. “I think it will be really important, and a big step forward, if we are able to be in that final and have the opportunity to win that trophy.” It’s not just Arteta’s future that could be on the line on Thursday. Arsenal’s ability to attract players for next season, and to retain the services of its own best players, might hinge on winning the Europa League and gaining the bonus prize of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. Otherwise, it’s out of Europe, a situation Arsenal hasn’t been in since the 1995-96 season — a year that fell between the storied managerial eras of George Graham and Arsene Wenger. For Arteta, that would be unacceptable. “But it’s the reality,” he said. “It’s not what we want, obviously, but there are a lot of things that have happened in that period for many reasons. “One is the level has been raised to a standard that is unprecedented in the (Premier League) and we are not the only club that has been out of that. But obviously no one accepts that situation and we want to change it straightaway. This season, we have the opportunity to do that.” Arteta delivered the FA Cup to Arsenal in August, at the end of his first season at the club, but his position would be uncertain should his team be eliminated by Villarreal, which — adding to the weight of the occasion — is coached by Unai Emery. Emery is a Spaniard who replaced Wenger at Arsenal in May 2018, following the Frenchman’s nearly 22 years in the job. He lasted only 18 months. Arteta said the success of this season will now be determined by winning the Europa League or not. “It will be judged like this,” he said. “How good or bad job you are doing is judged by many factors by different people. Externally, it’s only when you win or lose. That is the defining moment.” Arteta’s big players need to step up against Villarreal and there’s no one bigger in the team than captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who declared upon signing a three-year deal in September that he wanted to become an “Arsenal legend.” That hasn’t materialized, because of a mixture of off-field issues — he recently contracted malaria, and also took time off in February when his mother became seriously ill — and poor form, which he partially put down to struggling to get fired up for matches because of the lack of fans in stadiums. Aubameyang, whose season tally of 15 goals in all competitions is way down on what he typically delivers, said Wednesday he owes Arteta a big performance. “I have to give something back to the club and the fans who are awaiting something from me,” the striker said on a video call. “This is the right moment to show I am capable of doing it.”

3 years ago