In a tense UEFA Champions League final at Budapest’s Puskás Aréna, Paris Saint-Germain edged out Arsenal to the lottery of penalties 4-3 after a high octane 120 minutes of 1-1 draw to be crowned European champions for the second consecutive season.
Arsenal rattled the holders with a lightning start, as Kai Havertz fired them into a sixth-minute lead with a powerful strike that left the PSG goalie Matvei Safonov rooted to the grass.
The Premier League side were pecked back much of the opening period, but PSG responded strongly in the second half with Ousmane Dembélé scoring from the penalty spot in the 64th minutes, punishing a foul in the box and igniting the French side’s comeback bid.
Eberechi Eze missed Arsenal’s second spot kick but Portuguese star Nuno Mendes then saw his kick saved by David Raya.
The final also added to a fascinating historical pattern: this was the 13th Champions League/European Cup final to go the distance on penalties, and at least one English side has now featured in five of the last six such deciders.
Arsenal’s latest heartbreak mirrors a painful pattern for English football, where reaching the grandest stage serves only to make the final, cruel defeat sting even more.
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