This was merely an obligation to fulfil and, with the outcome of scant consequence, Arsenal joined PSV Eindhoven in serving up a presentable enough spectacle. Nobody could have expected anything edgier although one wonders exactly what it would have taken for Mikel Arteta to give Ethan Nwaneri, Reuell Walters or Lino Sousa a dose of big-game experience. The three youngsters in his travelling party remained on the bench throughout and any of them would surely have gained more from a runout than, say, the 89th-minute substitute Gabriel Jesus.
Arteta, though, had been determined to win and that looked distinctly possible when Eddie Nketiah put them ahead before the interval. A lively home side equalised through Yorbe Vertessen and probably deserved more on the balance of chances. Nobody, though, was ever going to leave this dead rubber feeling particularly unhappy.
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