By admin 
Arsenal put their recent Premier League struggles behind them in style as they cruised to an emphatic 7-1 win over PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
The Gunners’ trip to the Philips Stadion look like a potentially tricky one after PSV knocked out Juventus in the playoff round with a 3-1 win at the same venue.
A home defeat to West Ham followed by a goalless draw with Nottingham Forest meant Arsenal went into the clash lacking momentum, but they soon found it in spades in a dominant first-half display.
Mikel Arteta’s men took advantage of some dreadful defending from the hosts with three goals in the space of 15 minutes, Jurrien Timber’s 18th-minute header followed by efforts from Ethan Nwaneri and makeshift striker Mikel Merino to essentially end the tie as a contest.
Noah Lang’s penalty gave PSV faint hope, but a second-half double from Martin Odegaard either side of a Leandro Trossard strike effectively clinched Arsenal’s place in the last eight against either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid, with Riccardo Calafiori rounding off a remarkable win five minutes from time.
PSV Eindhoven vs Arsenal
PSV were very unfortunate not to take the lead when David Raya could only palm a cross as far as Ismael Saibari, but one of the heroes of the win over Juve saw his shot strike the crossbar.
That missed chance was immediately punished with a well-worked opener from the Gunners as Timber rose at the far post to nod home Declan Rice’s cross.
The lead was doubled when Myles Lewis-Skelly found space on the left-hand side of the box to tee up fellow teenager Nwaneri, who lashed home an eighth goal of the season, finding the top-left corner from point-blank range.
ETHAN NWANERI DOUBLES ARSENAL’S LEAD 🤯
Minutes after going up 1-0, the teenager finds the back of net to double the advantage.#UCLonPrime pic.twitter.com/paMpBjrYNm
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) March 4, 2025
Comical defending from PSV allowed Merino to calmly slot in a third, confirmed by VAR after a long check for offside, that pause giving Arteta the opportunity to bring off Lewis-Skelly, who had earlier been booked for a foul on Luuk de Jong and was lucky not to receive a second caution soon after for hacking down Richard Ledezma.
De Jong was in the thick of the action again, though, as PSV were given a route back into the game. Referee Jesus Gil Manzano showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot after Thomas Partey pulled De Jong by the neck at a corner, and Lang confidently dispatched from 12 yards.
It might have got even better for PSV had De Jong not headed over from close range soon after, and three minutes into the second half the impact of that miss was magnified as Arsenal turned it into a rout.
Odegaard tapped in for 4-1 after Nwaneri’s low cross was palmed into his path. Ninety-nine seconds later, Trossard left the home crowd in disbelief by dinking over the forlorn Walter Benitez, who was at fault in the 76th minute when he succeeded only in helping a straight shot from Odegaard on its way into the net.
More humiliation was come to for PSV, with Benitez left to retrieve the ball from the net again after Odegaard played in marauding Calafiori to steer in off the post as Arsenal became the first team in Champions League history to score seven away from home in a knockout game.