Some PSV fans seemed to take losing to Arsenal in the Europa League quite badly with reports of seats being ripped out and images of a flare that was reportedly aimed at Arsenal supporters.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 20: A flare is seen following the UEFA Europa League group A match between Arsenal FC and PSV Eindhoven at Emirates Stadium on October 20, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 20: A flare is seen following the UEFA Europa League group A match between Arsenal FC and PSV Eindhoven at Emirates Stadium on October 20, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Arsenal’s win over PSV Eindhoven was conducted in a perfectly needle-free manner so it is somewhat surprising to see a section of their fanbase lose it at the Emirates.

Quite what set them off is not clear at the time of writing, not that any excuse justifies this sort of behaviour.

Expect UEFA to act with both clubs possibly in a spot of bother.

It was, after all, Arsenal’s responsibility to keep flares and fireworks out of the ground.

Arsenal stretched their winning run to eight when they beat Ruud van Nistelrooy’s PSV Eindhoven on Thursday night in their rearranged Europa League game.

Arsenal's Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal of the UEFA Europa League Group A football match between Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven at The Arsenal Stadium in London, on October 20, 2022. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP)
Arsenal’s Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal of the UEFA Europa League Group A football match between Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven at The Arsenal Stadium in London, on October 20, 2022. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP)

In a match where Mikel Arteta made six changes to the starting lineup and Arsenal never really hit top gear, they never seemed to be under any sort of threat from PSV.

Arsenal-linked Cody Gakpo, one of the few players in Europe even close to keeping pace with Erling Haaland, didn’t even get a shot in. He has three goals from his other three Europa League games, and an assist.

In a game that never felt like it was out of Arsenal’s control, Granit Xhaka was the man to break the deadlock in the 71st minute.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 20: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal scores their side's first goal during the UEFA Europa League group A match between Arsenal FC and PSV Eindhoven at Emirates Stadium on October 20, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 20: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal scores their side’s first goal during the UEFA Europa League group A match between Arsenal FC and PSV Eindhoven at Emirates Stadium on October 20, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

His smooth strike from just inside the box is his third goal of the season as his fantastic form continues continues. Xhaka has now scored as many as he had in the previous three seasons combined. He is just one short of the four he scored in the 18/19 season.

Xhaka’s yellow card, his second in the competition, was a flash back to the Granit of old, but it was also funny.

Next up for Arsenal is a trip to Southampton in the Premier League.