For a game that on paper was nothing, there were plenty of dangers and rewards at stake.
First, risk. Boss Mikel Arteta made 8 adjustments for this organisational level of the Champions League in Eindhoven and has yet to start with William Saliba and Gabriel at full-back.
Defensive injuries influenced Arteta’s decision-making, but in fact it was a gamble not to rest any of them, especially given Saliba’s influence and his impact on this team.
Paranoid Arsenal enthusiasts were at least pleased to see the Frenchman come off in the 61st minute, for Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Ben White to make wonderful tackles.
He was followed by Gabriel Jesus and Emile Smith Rowe. Would you believe the furor if Bukayo Saka, who was taking a penalty, had also been substituted in an inconsequential match?
Thankfully, Arteta’s threat paid off. The Gunners’ medical team had a quiet night and Eddie Nketiah scored his first Champions League goal in the 42nd minute.
And then, the reward. On the bench were three young stars from the academy: defenders Lino Sousa and Reuell Walters, 18, and midfielder Ethan Nwaneri, 16, awaiting their European Championship debut.
Nwaneri, 15 months after making his Premier League debut at the record age of 15, is considered the youngest Arsenal player to play in a European festival at the age of 16 years and 265 days.
Unfortunately, that never came to fruition, and Arteta decided it wasn’t the time to rewrite history any further.
The attack itself was adrift, threatening at times to come back to life. Arteta was looking to close the organisational stages in style and in style, with neither of them coming to fruition.
PSV, the only team in Europe’s top 55 leagues to have a 100 per cent national record, were very impressive at times and were rewarded with a goal from Yorbe Vertessen just after the break to score a point.
Then, Arteta, back on the touchline after serving his suspension for the defeat at Villa Park last weekend, will return to London happy. Group in the lead. Job done. Spend.
Among the tweaks for Arsenal is the playing time of several marginal players who need some time on the pitch, including Mohamed Elneny, Reiss Nelson and Cedric Soares.
Aaron Ramsdale was given a rare start, his first in this competition, and the chance to impress with David Raya’s number one prestige under minor scrutiny in recent weeks.
In the sixth minute, Ramsdale should have been picking a ball out of his net. A fine sweeping move from the hosts saw Johan Bakayoko pick out Patrick van Aanholt in the box.
Ramsdale, Van Aanholt and Saliba collided in their attempts, and the ball went to Ricardo Pepi (one of five adjustments made in this aspect of PSV), but his attempt was cleared off the line thanks to Gabriel.
A fortunate breakaway for Ramsdale, who went down moments later with a bruised right ankle that required treatment.
Bakayoko, a target for Tottenham and Brentford last summer, led the display by cutting inside from the right. The fact that he’s only 20 years old is scary.
Surrounding Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior, he fired a deadly shot wide with his left boot. Later, in a docile move, he forced Ramsdale around his post.
In between that, Elneny rolled back the years with a shock show of pace and hit low from 25 yards only for his effort to smack the outside of the post.
PSV dominated, enjoyed life on the counter, only to fall when Arsenal woke up briefly to pull off a play of undignified quality involving Cedric and Nelson, shot through Nketiah with a low shot to the legs of Andre Ramalho, which hit the post and went into the opposite corner.
However, Arsenal continued to apply more pressure in the second half, with Vertessen heading wide before a moment in the 50th minute connecting to the woodwork and inside.
Cedric and Saliba were at fault, the former caught out of position and the latter fluffing a diving interception.
Saliba is gone. The cavalry arrived, with Rice replacing the rear.
Elneny was among those who retired, suffering a muscle strain, something that was not unexpected considering he had only played 10 minutes of football this season before this one.
One of Arsenal’s few brilliant elements, Nelson was lively and direct, he beat two defenders but had a great chance in the back of the net.
Up the other end, Ramsdale showed his worth with a superb fingertip reaction stop onto the post to deny Ismael Saiberi from a tight angle.
Arsenal thought they had made it three points in the 81st minute with Kiwior heading home from an Odegaard free-kick. The offside flag was raised nicely and Gabriel interfered in play.
Arteta could not have complained if Guus Til had taken his obvious opportunity in stoppage time and then put his head in his hands as Trossard lacked close diversity with the final kick.
Two sequences that sum up this meaningless competition.
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