Goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka allowed us to claim a big Champions League victory against Paris Saint-Germain at the Emirates Stadium.

The damage was done in the first half, when the German striker headed in a beautiful Leandro Trossard ball, before Saka saw a free-kick evade everyone and find the net.

The French champions were better after the break but despite hitting the goal frame twice during the match we were unable to find a way through our determined defense as we comfortably collected the three points and moved to 15 games unbeaten.

Havertz goes home

Just as we left it on Saturday, the Emirates Stadium bounced before kick-off as the Champions League theme blared through our house for the first time this season, and we were inspired from the start.

Captain Saka went close with a trademark cut from the right before letting go, only to see his effort in the top corner whistle over the woodwork, but after a solid opening twenty minutes our positivity was rewarded with the opener.

Leandro Trossard picked up the ball on the halfway line and took it into the final third. Looking up he saw Havertz’s run and his pass was accurate, allowing the German to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma and into the empty net to give us the advantage.

PSG had not beaten us in their previous four meetings and had not progressed up to that point, but after falling behind their quality started to shine through late on.

Left back Nuno Mendes aimed from the edge of the box to beat David Raya, only to see his shot hit the base of the post, and fellow full-back Achraf Hakimi tested our shot stopper with an effort from a tight angle that had to be blocked. .

Saka sneaks into second place

But just as the Parisians were working through their gears, their attempted comeback stalled as we took a second after 35 minutes. Saka won a free-kick on the right flank, which he fired towards the near post towards Gabriel Martinelli and Thomas Partey. The pair threw themselves at it, but failed to get a touch, instead distracting Donnarumma, who watched the throw creep into his net.

The Italian shot-stopper did well to pluck the ball off Trossard’s toes after Saka slid a tempting pass across goal shortly afterwards, but we went into half-time with a healthy lead.

It was almost even bigger in the second 45 minutes when Havertz played a lovely, high pass into the path of Martinelli who connected on the volley, but his effort went straight at Donnarumma – either side of the giant goalkeeper and it would be game have been about. .

Three points secured

Just after the hour Gooners got the first sight of Mikel Merino in red and white as he came on for his debut, but the visitors were a better side after the break and started to create better chances. Joao Neves poked the ball against the crossbar after a corner, and Kan-in Lee tried his luck from 30 yards, forcing Raya to parry his swerving shot.

Martinelli had another chance to get on the scoresheet, but rushed his effort, which Donnarumma managed to catch up. But as the minutes ticked by we continued to batten down the hatches and eventually claimed another clean sheet, meaning we started a Champions League campaign with back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2007.

The result saw us reach four points and a huge win against one of the giants of the European game and almost certainly a rival to secure a place in the top eight of the league stage when all is said and done in January.

What’s next

Southampton are the next visitors to N5 on Saturday for our final match before the international break. We then return to action with a trip to Bournemouth on October 19, before hosting Shakhtar Donetsk the following Tuesday on matchday three of the Champions League.