William Saliba came up against one or two familiar faces during Arsenal’s first leg defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
PSG had two France internationals in their front three against Arsenal — Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue.
Of course, it was Dembele who scored PSG’s goal to win 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium, his 33rd of the season.
Alongside Jakub Kiwior, Saliba was tasked with nullifying PSG’s front line, something that the likes of Liverpool and Aston Villa have already failed to do.
And although Saliba and his defensive teammates were fairly resolute in the face of dominant PSG performance at times, they still ultimately conceded a vital goal.
French media deliver their William Saliba review
That being said, France’s media delivered their Saliba verdict after watching the Arsenal defender against Dembele, issuing a mixed review.
Some Arsenal fans were worried about Saliba against PSG after some recent mistakes on the ball against Real Madrid and Crystal Palace.
But it was actually Saliba’s lack of threat at set-pieces that Footmercato decided to critique, even if they were impressed with the centre-back’s defending at times.
Handing the Arsenal star 5.5/10, they wrote: “Although he didn’t often have to intervene, he stood out with an excellent one-on-one on Dembele, while the Frenchman was going on the counter-attack.
“However, although he was supposed to be the main threat on set pieces, he was pinned down by Willian Pacho on every opportunity Arsenal had.”
Maxifoot gave Saliba 4.5/10 themselves, describing his efforts as a ‘mixed performance’.
Their review read: “A mixed performance for the Arsenal central defender. At the start of the game, the French international failed to keep up with Dembele’s movements, who was decisive with the opening goal.
“Hampered by his compatriot’s runs, he took time to adapt and was sometimes on a knife edge.
“But little by little, the former Marseille player recovered well and made a superb tackle in his own box on Hakimi in the second half.”
Myles Lewis-Skelly continues to impress for Arsenal
In truth, there was very little to criticise about Saliba’s efforts — the Frenchman did his job and led by example at the back.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was excellent as ever playing alongside him, an 18-year-old who is already one of Europe’s best full-backs.
Interestingly, PSG’s Vitinha made a comment about Thomas Partey at full-time and Arsenal will hope that the midfielder’s return will make a difference in the second leg.
Arsenal arguably lost the game in midfield — it certainly wasn’t Saliba’s fault that Mikel Arteta’s side couldn’t get a foot on the ball early on.
A frustrating evening for the Gunners who will now need to go to Paris and win, something Liverpool did manage themselves a few months ago.
