Arsenal opened their Champions League campaign with a resounding win over PSV on Wednesday night. It was important for the Gunners to start the tournament in the perfect way but not only that, ensure strong momentum going into the North London Derby on Sunday.
With so many storylines surrounding the club and the narrative of the return to the European elite competition, it was a night where things were easily missed. Exchanges between players, an emotional Mikel Arteta and the reactions of the crowd to the Champions League all featured.
With that, football.london has summed up some moments that were perhaps not captured by the television cameras. Leave a comment down below of anything you spotted of interest that you think was worth mentioning.
“The champions”
Champions League football is back at the Emirates Stadium and the crowd responded. An opening light show followed an early rendition of ‘North London Forever’ before the players took to the field to rapturous applause.
The anthem, which has been absent from this ground for so long, and as Gabriel Jesus revealed has been played inside the dressing room by the younger players, rang out. As it met its crescendo, the Arsenal fans, in unison, cried out, “The Champions” with the famous song.
Zinchenko from the off
Arsenal has several individuals who love to get involved with the crowd but perhaps none more so than Oleksandr Zinchenko. Martin Odegaard also loves to gee-up the supporters but typically in moments during the game.
For the Ukrainian, it was evident from before a ball had been kicked. After the teams had swapped ends, Zinchenko approached the East Stand right in front of the press box and screamed at the top of his lungs whilst wildly flailing his arms to get a response.
Throughout the game, the crowd was brilliant and embraced the moment of the return. Zinchenko even got a whole-crowd rendition of his “Gold” song after yet another top performance.
Arteta angry at Odegaard
Arsenal might have scored early but it could have been even sooner. Martin Odegaard has been used to pulling the strings for the Gunners but he has been adding a higher shot frequency to his game.
With that, when he didn’t play in Bukayo Saka when the winger made his run through, Arteta was spotted shouting at the Norwegian. Interestingly it would then be the skipper’s shot that led to Saka scoring and so therefore who can really be annoyed?
Raya-White relationship
When you swap out the goalkeeper one of the key impacts of the decision can be on how it affects the relationship with the back four. For so long Aaron Ramsdale had been a part of that unit but after two successive starts, it seems the Spaniard is making a strong claim to keep that spot for the foreseeable future.
However, Raya has seemingly slotted very comfortably into the team so far. In one moment during the game, White, under pressure, played the ball back to his stopper, he got the thumbs up and acknowledgment.
Ramsdale’s next chance is likely to come in the Carabao Cup match against Raya’s parent side Brentford. Whilst Mikel Arteta is sure to be asked once again about his decision-making in the position.
Smith Rowe applause
One of the moments of the whole evening was the decision to bring on Emile Smith Rowe. The Hale End graduate has not had a single minute of action this season before tonight and everyone saw the reception as he came on.
What perhaps people didn’t see from the screens was what happened before. Thousands of supporters noticed when Smith Rowe had been called back to the bench to come on and they rose together in excitement at his arrival and what a feeling it must have been.
football.london
