SPORT - Arsenal's European dream falls apart

By Andrew MacAskill

ARSENAL:1 PSV EINDHOVEN:1
(ON AGGREGATE 1-2)

ARSENAL'S hopes of winning any silverware this season were ended last night as PSV Eindhoven secured a draw at the Emirates Stadium, forcing the Gunners out of the Champions League.

The PSV defender Alex went from villain to hero: after scoring an own goal he redeemed himself eight minutes from the end, glancing home a header to send the Dutch side into the quarter-finals.

This is Arsenal’s third cup disappointment in eleven days, after losing the Carling Cup final to Chelsea on February 25 and being knocked out of the FA Cup by Blackburn days later.

Meanwhile, they are trailing 20 points behind Manchester United in the Premiership.

Having lost the first leg 1-0, Arsenal knew they needed to score at least two goals to progress.

In the first half they dominated possession, and spent most of the time camped around PSV’s penalty area.

Arsenal should have taken the lead after six minutes but Emmanuel Adebayor missed an opening when he failed to control a Cesc Fabregas cross just six yards out, and Gomes smothered the danger.

Kolo Toure was tormenting PSV and he tested Gomes with a fierce drive from just inside the area, before Adebayor headed wide from Gael Clichy’s cross.

Julio Baptista sent an acrobatic volley over the bar after Fabregas’s shot had deflected into his path, as Arsenal strove to find a way through PSV’s massed ranks.

PSV mounted a rare threat to Jens Lehmann’s goal after half an hour when Edison Mendez crossed. Phillip Cocu should have scored but only managed to glance the header across goal.

Arsenal were quickly back on the offensive and Baptista tried his luck with a spectacular bicycle kick from Aleksandr Hleb’s cross, but the Brazilian’s effort drifted wide of the goal.

Arsène Wenger’s side have made a habit of coming from behind at home this season and, with PSV’s lack of ambition inviting far too much pressure, an equaliser looked inevitable.

Yet when the breakthrough finally arrived in the 57th minute, it was due more to good fortune than to skill. Denilson sent in a corner that Gomes misjudged and Adebayor’s flick was turned
into his own net by Alex.

With the tie level on aggregate, PSV began to sense the need to attack, but that only opened up more space for Arsenal to go on the offensive.

Adebayor again should have put the hosts ahead, but he shot too close to Gomes after sprinting onto Fabregas’s pass, then the Spanish midfielder fired over from the edge of the area.

PSV were close to a vital away goal when Mendez flashed a low drive just wide. That was the signal for Wenger to send on Thierry Henry. Struggling to recover fully from foot and hamstring injuries, the Arsenal captain had only been named on the bench.

Henry’s first significant contribution was in the 78th minute, when he brought a fine stop from Gomes with a dipping free-kick. But Arsenal were hit with a sucker punch that left them down and out in the 82nd minute.

Wenger had warned his side to tighten up their set pieces, but that again proved to be their Achilles’ heel. With eight minutes to go, Mendez whipped in a free-kick from the left and Alex rose above Abou Diaby to plant a header past Lehmann that sent PSV into ecstasy.

“It’s a cruel night for us because we had the chances to score a second goal,” Wenger said. “We lacked a bit of sharpness and of course we lacked a bit of quality in the final third.”