Arsenal came up short in their bid to reach the Champions League final against PSG and Martin Keown pinpointed the reason why Mikel Arteta’s men failed to get over the line
Martin Keown feels Arsenal’s lack of a proper centre forward ‘caught up with them’ in the end following their heartbreaking Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain.
The Gunners headed to the French capital knowing that only a win would do against PSG after losing last week’s first leg 1-0. But Mikel Arteta’s men were unable to conquer their hosts, who won 2-1 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate to book a date with Inter Milan at the end of the month.
Despite their defeat, Arsenal started the match with the bit between their teeth and were unfortunate to fall behind on the night when Fabian Ruiz sent a stunner beyond David Raya.
Bukayo Saka kept Arsenal alive after PSG doubled their lead but there was to be no fairytale comeback for Arsenal, who will end the season without a trophy.
READ MORE: Mikel Arteta makes remarkably bullish Arsenal claim despite Champions League exitREAD MORE: Arsenal fans all say the same thing about Bukayo Saka moment in PSG defeat
Another big summer looks to be on the cards at The Emirates after the club opted against signing a new No.9 in January despite losing both Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus to injury. And while they look set to fill that void before the 2025-26 campaign, Keown singled that out as the primary reason behind the club’s failure to reach the Champions League.
“You have to hold your hands up to PSG,” Keown said on PSG after the match. “Hakimi, what a player he is. Arsenal can be proud of what they have done this season in our second year back in the Champions League. But it has caught up with us that we don’t have a proper centre-forward, two of them are out tonight.
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“For PSG they have no Neymar, no Messi, no Mbappe, all out the door, but now they are a complete side. I’ve not see forward players working so hard. How do you beat them? They have to be hot favourites to win this now. You have to give them credit.”
Arteta was in bullish mood after the match and, after congratulating PSG on their triumph, went on to insist that no team ‘had been better than Arsenal’ in the Champions League this season when he was asked if he felt they deserved to advance.
He said: “100 per cent. I don’t think there’s been a better team [than Arsenal] in the competition from what I have seen, but we are out. This competition is about the boxes and in both boxes are the strikers and the goalkeepers and theirs was the best in both games.
“I am so proud of the players. They deserve a lot of credit for what they are doing in the context of the situation and the amount of injuries, probably the worst state you could arrive here as a team. To come here with a different context and still do that, it gives me a lot of positives for the future but tonight I am very upset.”
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