Arsenal reach Europa League knockouts with victory over PSV

LONDON: Granit Xhaka’s second-half winner secured Arsenal a 1-0 win over PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates and a place in the Europa League knockout phase on Thursday. Mikel Arteta’s men moved five points clear of PSV at the top of Group A in a rescheduled game which was postponed last month following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The two sides meet again in a week’s time, when a point for Arsenal would be enough to wrap up top spot and qualification directly into the last 16. A fourth victory in as many games in Europe mean Arsenal have won 13 of their 14 matches in all competitions this season.

The Premier League leaders dominated for long periods but had to wait until 19 minutes from time to take the lead when Takehiro Tomiyasu chipped the ball back for Xhaka to drill home his third goal of the season. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli both came close to extending the advantage late on, but Ruud van Nistelrooy’s PSV rarely threatened an equalizer.