PSV booked a great victory in Group A of the Europa League on Thursday evening. In the Philips Stadium, the team of coach Ruud van Nistelrooij was 2-0 too strong for Arsenal. The goal production was provided by Joey Veerman and substitute Luuk de Jong, while three goals from the Eindhoven team were (rightly) rejected. At the same time, FK Bodø/Glimt surprisingly lost 2-1 to FC Zurich, which means that PSV is already certain of wintering in the Europa League.
Van Nistelrooij has seen a large number of players return from the PSV infirmary in recent weeks. De Jong, Mauro Júnior, Noni Madueke and Marco van Ginkel were all present again, but were not yet in the basic team. That honor was reserved for Xavi Simons, who was at the point of the attack. The flanks were covered by Anwar El Ghazi (right) and Cody Gakpo (left). Guus Til, who has often played as a striker in recent weeks, has lost his place in the team due to the starting position of El Ghazi. In the back, Jarred Branthwaite was preferred over Armindo Obispo.
In the ninth minute of play, PSV fired the first warning shot. Simons tried his luck with a shot from the edge of the box, but goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale converted the attempt into a corner. More than ten minutes later, the Eindhoven team thought they would take the lead. Joey Veerman had a perfect through ball on Gakpo, who outwitted Ramsdale with a nice marker. After the goal, however, the flag went up and the video referee on duty no longer intervened: goal disallowed.
Arsenal became dangerous for the first time halfway through the first half. Eddie Nketiah tested goalkeeper Walter Benítez with a ball that flew towards the crossroads, but the closing post reacted alertly and stopped the bet. Shortly before the halftime signal, the Londoners had two big chances. First, the fully released Gabriel Martinelli completed within sixteen over; then Martin Ödegaard failed to take advantage of an unforgivable mistake by Ibrahim Sangaré. It was also not easy for PSV on the stroke of the halftime signal. Simons scored on a pass from Anwar El Ghazi; the latter, however, was offside in the build-up of the attack: goal disallowed.
In the second act, PSV was more fortunate. Immediately after the break, De Jong came in for El Ghazi, and that turned out to be a golden move by Van Nistelrooij. Ten minutes after the restart, the striker put the ball wide on Veerman, who made the 1-0 with a watched shot. The second Eindhoven goal fell less than seven minutes later. Gakpo had a perfect ball on De Jong from the left corner flag. The attack leader towered over the enemy defense and gratefully took advantage of Ramsey’s missasting with a striking header: 2-0.
Halfway through the second half, an Eindhoven goal was rejected for the third time. This time, Gakpo completed on a cross from Sangaré, but the left winger on duty moved into an offside position. Shortly afterwards, De Jong headed just wide, allowing Arsenal to continue to hope for an acceptable result. PSV got away well ten minutes before the end. After a carom in front of Benítez, Nketiah had the opportunity to score from close range. The Argentinian closing post then had an excellent reflex and kept his goal clean. Arteta, who did not appear in the strongest line-up at the kick-off, brought in several big names, although they were unable to force a breakthrough either.