Arsenal have earned a 1-1 draw away at Paris Saint-Germain after an Alexis Sanchez strike 13 minutes from time earned his team a share of the spoils in France.
The Gunners were below par for large parts of the game at the Parc des Princes, but Sanchez's equaliser has earned what could prove to be a precious point when Group A comes to a close in December.
PSG needed less than a minute to take the lead in France's capital and it came through striker Edinson Cavani, who got in between two Arsenal defenders to head a Serge Aurier cross into the bottom corner.
The Premier League side were shell-shocked and it almost got worse before the quarter-hour mark when David Ospina - brought into the team to replace Petr Cech - was forced to tip a goalbound Angel di Maria corner past the far post.
Arsenal were having very little joy inside the final third but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could have perhaps done better when heading a Nacho Monreal cross back across goal.
With 11 minutes of the first half remaining, PSG should have doubled their advantage when Monreal's interception fell invitingly for Cavani but after taking the ball past Ospina, he sent his shot wide of an open goal.
Arsenal returned for the second half on the front foot but they were not creating anything significant in the final third and it came as no surprise when Olivier Giroud was introduced shortly after the hour.
However, while the Frenchman's arrival initially sparked greater urgency in attack, PSG started to dominate like they did in the first half, and the Gunners were indebted to Ospina who made three important interventions in the space of a few minutes.
Aurier and Cavani both saw shots blocked before the Colombian stopper displayed excellent reactions to tip an half-volley from Di Maria over the crossbar.
It ensured that Arsenal remained in the game and with 13 minutes left, they found an unlikely equaliser when Sanchez lashed the ball into the bottom corner from 14 yards after Alex Iwobi had seen his effort well saved by Alphonse Areola.
Rather than try to hold on for a point, Arsenal pushed for a second and they should have got one when Iwobi found himself in space in the penalty area but his shot was placed too close to Areola.
Deep into added-on time, both teams were reduced to 10 men after Marco Verratti and Giroud picked up second yellow cards for an off-the-ball incident before PSG very nearly won it with the last action of the game as Marquinhos headed wide from close range.
A second PSG goal would have been deserved given their performance over the 90 minutes, but they failed to take advantage of a below-par performance from Arsenal and it could prove key at the end of the group stage.
Darren Plant
