Dembele scores as PSG defeat Arsenal in Champions League semi-final

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) seized the advantage in their Champions League semi-final against Arsenal as Ousmane Dembele sealed a 1-0 win in the first leg on Tuesday.

Dembele struck in the opening minutes at the Emirates Stadium and Luis Enrique’s side held on to the lead with a composed display that kept Arsenal at bay.

PSG will head into the second leg at the Parc des Princes on May 7 as favourites to reach the final against Barcelona or Inter Milan as they look to win the tournament for the first time.

But the French champions should take nothing for granted given their history of epic European collapses.

PSG manager Luis Enrique said: “We showed the kind of team we are. We tried to play our way and scored the goal early playing that way.

“We suffered sometimes but could have scored the second goal. The second match is going to be very tough.

“The result means a little advantage for us. We can go to the final but there is still one match.”

Arsenal’s first defeat in 18 home European matches was a painful blow to their own bid to win a first Champions League crown.

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had labelled the team’s run to the semi-finals a “beautiful story”.

The last chapter might make for frustrating reading, but Arteta insisted they aren’t dead and buried just yet.

He said: “We put so much into the game. It’s half-time and we have a big chance to be in the final.

“We struggled in the first 15 minutes to get momentum and dominance, but in the end I was disappointed not to get a draw at least. That’s the margins, that’s the level.”

The Gunners had beaten holders Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate to reach their first Champions League semi-final since losing to Manchester United in 2009.

They could not replicate the swaggering display that blew Madrid away 3-0 in the first leg, despite a frenzied atmosphere as kick-off approached.

When Arsenal’s players gathered for a pre-match huddle in the tunnel, Declan Rice implored his team-mates to give everything as he roared: “If we don’t have the ball we die.”

But PSG had already eliminated Premier League champions Liverpool in the last 16 and Aston Villa in the quarter-finals, after coming back from two goals down to beat Manchester City in the league phase.

Arsenal were the one English side they had failed to conquer, losing 2-0 in north London in October.

However, PSG were without the influential Dembele for disciplinary reasons on that occasion and Luis Enrique insisted his side were “more complete” seven months on.

The Star