In the Zone: How Arsenal outfoxed Paris

The clever movement of Arsenal's forwards was a pivotal feature of their 2-0 UEFA Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

This was the verdict of UEFA technical observer Rafa Benítez, who – analysing this Matchday 2 contest for the FedEx Performance Zone – highlighted the "game intelligence" of Mikel Arteta's central attackers, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard.

"I like players who understand the game and have good movement, and the good thing about both was the understanding they showed, which was crucial for Arsenal's build-up play," said Benítez. "Havertz was keeping the ball well and Trossard showed great movement between the lines."

This view is backed up by the two clips in the video above – the first of which, from the eighth minute, contains several elements worth highlighting. To begin with Trossard, he has dropped deep and, with left-back Riccardo Calafiori occupying a position inside, this means more space for the Belgian to explore on the outside.

The positioning of Arsenal's wingers high and wide helps him too as Paris right-back Achraf Hakimi is pinned back by Gabriel Martinelli, leaving Trossard free to receive the ball outside the visitors' defensive shape, between the winger and full-back, and to progress it from there. He duly passes infield to Martinelli, running on to the ball on the inside.

At this point, we should also point out the smart run by Havertz, which draws Willian Pacho with him, creating more space for Calafiori, who feeds Bukayo Saka to shoot.

If Arsenal pressed Paris impressively, they were also dangerous when regaining the ball – thanks in no small part to this pair, according to Benítez. "They were interchanging positions a lot and this understanding, intelligence and movement meant they were always a threat."

The second clip, showing Havertz's 20th-minute goal, underlines his point. It begins once more with Trossard out on the left, where he finds space and beats a man en route to the final third. He then cuts inside and shows the composure to wait before flighting the ball over to Havertz, whose clever run gets him there ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma.

That was one of 18 runs in behind by Havertz, the most by any Arsenal player, and he was also their most active player when it came to receiving the ball between the lines (six times).

Benítez added of the Player of the Match: "When Arsenal were building attacks, he was finding clever movements to go to the right place to have a chance to finish. He's not a striker that will stay in the box but, after that, he still tries to get into the box to finish, which is what you have to do as a striker."

Additional praise for the German followed from his head coach, Arteta, who said: "He's so powerful, but as well he's so intelligent – the way he occupies the spaces, the way he binds everything together and his work ethic. And now he's around the box, you have a feeling he is going to score a goal." So it proved.