Editor: I haven’t heard read Arsenal’s reaction to the game, but I can predict it to be something along the lines of “we like to make things difficult for ourselves, we’ll have a go at them at the Emirates provided they don’t park the bus in front of goal.”

t was a less than stellar display from Arsenal Tuesday night as they were sunk 1-0 by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League game at Philips Stadion, Eindhoven.

The match started off with promising displays from Gunners Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fabregas, and Tomas Rosicky. Rosicky created an early chance in the 11th minute when his shot bounced off the PSV goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. But before he could complete the goal, the ball was quickly cleared by a PSV defender.

The home crowd at Philips Stadion was in full force, as a huge drum sounded the entire 90 minutes of the match. Every time an Arsenal player would touch the ball, a mass chorus of whistles would ring through the stands.

Most of the action in the first half was played down near the PSV goal, as PSV seemed content to hang back and play a primarily defensive game. The PSV defenders kept right near the box, most of the time, and marked their players exceedingly well. But it seemed to be much to Arsenal’s chagrin, as whenever PSV did make the odd offensive run, as PSV’s Arouna Kone did in the 36th minute, Arsenal defender Philippe Sendros struggled to make the tackle.

Towards the end of the first half, the Arsenal strikers began to take shots from further outside the box, as it was proving difficult to get through the PSV defense. Tomas Rosicky had a good curving effort, that went just right of the goal, and Thierry Henry had a flurry of shots just before halftime was called.

The second half of the game PSV began making more offensive plays, and it paid off for them as they scored the only goal of the match in the 61st minute. Kone got a good cross over to Edison Mendez, who directed a blistering kick from 25 yards out. Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehman lunged with a full body stretch, but could not keep the ball out of the left corner.

Sendros received the only yellow card of the game in the 63rd minute after he appeared to obstruct a PSV player after he (Sendros) had fallen down, although it was ruled to be a handball.

Fabregas had one of the few chances for Arsenal in the second half, as he connected with a cross from Tomas Rosicky. Gomes deflected the shot with one hand, and it went over the bar.

Despite efforts to get through the PSV defense, Arsenal seemed to be lacking the energy that they have displayed in recent weeks, and had difficulty in connecting passes and shaking their defenders. Julio Baptista was the only Arsenal substitute to come on, in the 74th minute. PSV used two subs, including Xiang Sun, who became the first Chinese person to play in a Champion’s League game.

Note: This match report was brought to you by Socca Critics, a soccer fan site that brings you match reports from all the Premiership and Champions League games.