The pressure was off as both sides had already secured their ticket to the last 16 and Arsenal in particular appeared to lack a competitive bite at the Philips Stadion.
PSV have been the fugitive at the back in the Eredivisie this season, winning all 15 of their games and opening a 10-point gap to nearest rivals Feyenoord.
And it was the Dutch side who got off to the best start, with a clever move down the right that opened up the Gunners’ defence, but striker Ricardo Pepi controlled the ball from close range.
Arsenal manager Mikael Arteta has made 8 adjustments since the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League at the weekend and the Gunners lacked organisation at the back and penetration up front.
PSV created several chances in the first half thanks to a fluid interaction and Belgium foreign striker Yorbe Vertessen hit the post with a fine header that beat Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal’s first chance came almost an hour later, with a speculative shot from Egyptian foreign defender Mohamed Elneny that went just over the post.
But the London club took the lead minutes before the break when striker Eddie Nketiah had too much in the box and fired a low shot into the corner.
A draw for Arsenal: the development of the game.
With an impressive 52 goals in domestic competition, PSV have lost once this season: to Arsenal, who crushed them 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the second leg.
And they were back in terms of points less than five minutes into the second half when a ball dissected Arsenal’s midfield and Vertessen deftly fired past Ramsdale.
The hosts continued to stroke the ball around with confidence and Ramsdale kept his side in the game with a fingertip save from Moroccan international Ismael Saibari.
The Gunners were denied what would have been an undeserved victory when Jakub Kiwior’s hard header in the 82nd minute was disallowed for offside.
And PSV squandered a golden opportunity to snap him out of death: Guus Til wasted his shot after coming into play in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
While neither continued to press, neither would have been too disappointed with a draw that would put them in the hat of the round of 16.