Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Arsenal Loses and Slot is Sacked

Champions League Final

Arsenal tested defending champion PSG but ultimately lost in penalty kicks after regulation and extra time left the two sides deadlocked at a goal apiece. Arsenal was determined to play its own pragmatic, defensive, even what some might characterize as ugly style against the more attack minded Parisians. The Gunners commitment to shortening the match and making life difficult for PSG increased when they were practically “handed” the early lead in the championship match.

An errant pass by PSG defender PSG Marquinos ricocheted off the arm of Arsenal’s Leonardo Trossard and fell kindly to the feet of Arsenal striker Kai Havertz who broke down the left flank ahead of PSG defenders who were unable to reverse their forward momentum quickly enough. Havertz, who scored the winner for Chelsea in the 2022 Champions League final, beat PSG goaltender Matvey Safonov by lofting the ball into the upper far corner of the net over a helpless Safonov who was protecting against an anticipated lower trajectory shot to the near side of the goal. Advantage Arsenal after six minutes of play.

The next fifty-nine minutes saw wave after wave of PSG attacks repulsed by the elite Arsenal defense led by center backs Gabriel and William Saliba. The match turned, however, when Arsenal fullback Cristhian Mosquera was late on a challenge to stop PSG’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as he bore in on Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya. Ousmane Dembele put the ensuing penalty kick past Raya to equalize the match in the 65th minute at 1-1.

That score remained until the clubs went to penalty kicks after an extra period failed to decide the match. PSG would miss one of their allotted kicks but unfortunately for Gunner fans, the English side missed on two of their attempts. First, it was a miss by Eberechi Eze and then Gabriel missed the climactic fifth and final kick for the Gunners. Gabriel was taking his first penalty kick for Arsenal in the most pressurized of moments.

Manager Mikel Arteta will live with questions as to the wisdom and fairness in Gabriel taking that fifth Arsenal kick. There were others who could have taken the final chance at Safonov including Noni Madueke, a more technical striker of the ball who once infamously fought with Chelsea teammate Cole Palmer over a far less important penalty kick. As it was, Gabriel skied the kick and PSG were UCL champions for a second consecutive season.

Liverpool Sacks Arne Slot

Liverpool sacked Manager Arne Slot after a season in which the Reds lost 19 matches across all competitions just a year after Slot led Liverpool to a Premier League championship in his first season with the club. The title winning side was often thought to have been a parting gift from predecessor Jurgen Klopp with few changes made to the squad Slot inherited. Conversely, this season’s disappointment is all Slot’s.

Problems for Liverpool began during a turbulent offseason which saw the off-pitch death of Liverpool player Diogo Jota, a cloud over the season which never parted, and extensive retooling of the squad by Slot and Liverpool ownership and administration. The biggest summer outlay, Alexander Isaak, was unfit all season and contributed nothing while Hugo Ekitike, a rare bright spot this season ultimately ruptured an Achilles tendon. Fair or not, failed additions based on their performances to date such as Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez are clearly identified with Slot.

There also seemed a marked change to a slower pace with which Slot had his team play, a far cry from the heavy metal style of his predecessor. Meanwhile, a schism developed between Slot and underperforming Liverpool legend Mo Salah which the Egyptian superstar was all too happy to take public. Salah condemned Liverpool’s slower style and other tactical adjustments made by Slot as the now also departed Salah’s production fell off a cliff during the 2025/26 season with his goal involvements falling from 47 to 14.

Other veterans such as center back Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate also regressed in Slot’s second season which started poorly from the outset for the Reds. Liverpool seemed to be sleepwalking while losing nine of 12 matches across all competitions from September through November. Despite some mid-season improvement, results slid once again toward season’s end with Liverpool securing only two of its last 12 points in the critical Premier League run-in which saw the Reds just barely hold onto the Champions League berth available this season to the league’s fifth place finisher.

Beyond league play, a trophyless season began with a Community Shield loss to Crystal Palace, another loss to the Eagles in the EFL Cup, an embarrassing 4-0 thumping by Manchester City in the FA Cup and a rather predictable loss to PSG in Champions League where the Reds failed to score a goal across two legs against the ultimate UCL winner. The club’s play in both league and cup competitions was criticized not just by Salah but by supporters and pundits as well as being too slow.

Slot, who never connected even in a small way with Liverpool supporters accustomed to Klopp’s more gregarious style, unhelpfully tried to deflect criticism to opponents’ use of a low block (unsportsmanlike ?) against the Reds and uncharitable officiating. In the end, Liverpool decided Slot was not the man to turn things around next season.

The challenge will be enormous as supporters will look for instant improvement from a club which lost 20 times this past season, allowing the most goals ever by a Liverpool team in the Premier League and scoring the fewest goals in more than a decade. An interesting summer needs to begin with a new face on the touchline. The betting seems to be on Andoni Iraola as Slot’s successor. Iraola left Bournemouth at season’s end after a successful three season run where he put the Cherries into Europe for the first time.

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