Mikel Arteta gets what he wants from Raheem Sterling – but Arsenal star can’t catch a break

ARSENAL 2-2 PSV (9-3 ON AGGREGATE): Mikel Arteta’s much-changed squad brushed off their title race disappointment to cruise through to the Champions League quarter-finals

How many left backs does it take to see off PSV Eindhoven?

Answer: five. One to score a brilliant opening goal, one to fill in on the left wing, another to play at centre half, another to come off the bench and one to actually play at left back.

Oleksandr Zinchenko opened the scoring with a cracker as he played as a No10, while Kieran Tierney played on the left wing, Jakub Kiwior in central defence and, believe it or not, Myles Lewis-Skelly actually played at left back.

They even brought on a fifth, Riccardo Calafiori, as a substitute for good measure. What a shame Arteta does not like signing strikers as much as left backs. If only Mikel Arteta enjoyed signing centre forwards as much as he collects left backs then Arsenal might have a strike force to be reckoned with.

Mind you, they did manage to put nine past PSV over two legs which is just one short of the record aggregate score in a Champions League knock-out. The job was done in the first leg when Arsenal thumped PSV 7-1 which allowed Arteta to mix and match and also use the most bizarre front three you will ever see.

Tierney on the left wing, Raheem Sterling on the right and midfielder Mikel Merino as a makeshift striker. Arteta could never have imagined he would be using this starting line-up to secure a place in the Champions League quarter finals for a second year running.

In fairness, Sterling put in comfortably his best performance in an Arsenal shirt as he provided two assists and it looked as if his confidence was slowly returning.

But, in keeping with his rotten luck since he joined Arsenal on loan last summer, he was booked in injury time for an X-rated challenge to stop a PSV counter attack and that rules him out of the quarter final. He just cannot catch a break.

It was so easy for Arsenal at times that they let complacency creep in and twice allowed PSV to equalise through pretty sloppy play.

You had to admire the PSV fans because 3,000 made the journey to London, they stayed until the bitter end and clapped their players off at the final whistle. PSV had reimbursed each of them the £60 cost of their match ticket as by way of an apology for the scoreline from the first leg. If only more Premier League clubs would cherish their fans like that.

Arsenal declared an attendance of 59,410 despite there being big gaps and the reality was that quite a few season ticket holders returned their seats as they had an option to get most of their money back.

There is not a lot of goodwill among the fans after Arsenal announced last week they will put their prices up for next season even though they did not spend any money on a striker in the last two transfer windows.

Arsenal only took six minutes to make the breakthrough at the Emirates. Sterling made a sharp turn, fed the ball into Zinchenko before being clattered and the Ukraine star curled a sensational left foot shot into the far corner.

Arsenal were sloppy as they gifted PSV an equaliser when former Tottenham midfielder Ivan Perisic beat keeper David Raya with a shot into the top corner.

But excellent work again by Sterling down the right before the on-loan winger put over a cross which was perfect for Declan Rice to head powerfully home.

That should have been that. But Arsenal took their foot off the gas in the second half. Jorginho was robbed in midfield and that allowed Couhaib Driouech to run through and beat Raya with a clever chip.

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.