Arsene Wenger was left feeling vindicated by his surprise selection of David Ospina as the goalkeeper pulled off a string of saves in Arsenal's Champions League draw with Paris St Germain.
The Colombian was not expected to start at the Parc des Princes, but was drafted in ahead of Petr Cech and performed admirably, eventually winning his duel with PSG striker Edinson Cavani, who had headed the hosts ahead inside a minute.
Ospina made a number of crucial stops to prevent Unai Emery's side extending their lead before Alexis Sanchez struck with 12 minutes remaining to seal a 1-1 draw.
The end of the game was marred by a double dismissal as referee Viktor Kassai sent off Arsenal substitute Olivier Giroud and PSG midfielder Marco Verratti for an incident off the ball.
But of greater significance to Wenger, in addition to a positive result from a tough opening away trip, was the performance of his goalkeeper. "I have two world-class goalkeepers," Wenger said.
"I can give them both games. If they do not play, you can't keep two world-class goalkeepers."
Ospina came in for heavy criticism last season when he was drafted in for the opening two Champions League games as Arsenal lost to both Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos.
But Wenger hinted he was likely to stick with the Colombian for the visit of Basle in their next Champions League outing. "We have a rule that the keepers know when they will play," he added. "It's important to have clear rules like that. They know what the rules are for the season. If they change, I'll tell them."
Asked if Ospina would only feature in Europe, Wenger replied: "I'll not answer that question. It's down to performances. On what he delivered tonight, he has the right to stay in the team for the next Champions League game."
Skipper Laurent Koscielny added: "We came here to get three points but we'll settle for one. A draw is a good result, especially as we had to come back from behind.
"To concede a goal after 42 seconds is disappointing because we have to be switched on from the first to the last. That is something we have to change."
BT Sport pundit Ian Wright, an Arsenal legend, also bemoaned his former side's lack of focus after the first whistle, saying: "If Arsenal had started better they would probably have won the game. But it's a good point and I think we can beat them at the Emirates."
PSG boss Emery was disappointed not to claim victory from a game his side dominated for long spells, but refused to blame Cavani's wastefulness in front of goal.
The Uruguay striker's most glaring miss came in the first half when he rounded Ospina, only to shoot wide of an unguarded goal. "The most important things are the opportunities, getting in the box, getting to the ball," Emery said.
"The player broke into the penalty area and, when you have chances, one day you might score, another day you might not. It's all about having the confidence to score goals. He'd scored a great goal at the start.
"He had three good chances, three very good chances. He wasn't the best but I said that the first thing is creating the chances. Then we have to work on confidence. Once you have optimism, that's when you start to score goals."
Emery added: "I'm not pleased with the result, but I'm pleased with the way we played. We're on the right track. The team showed spirit. The players did well in terms of the football we were asking them to play."
Source: PA
