Luuk de Jong scored one and assisted another in a superb second-half cameo as PSV beat Arsenal 2-0, with the Gunners missing the chance to seal top spot in Europa League Group A
Mikel Arteta highlighted the importance of topping the group ahead of the game, with the winners going straight into the round of 16 and bypassing an additional play-off tie that includes the best third-place teams from the Champions League - Barcelona and six-time Europa League winners Sevilla are already in the draw
But PSV looked the more likely to top the group - having qualified for the knockout rounds themselves courtesy of Zurich's late win against Bodo/Glimt - and could have been out of sight in the first half too, although their two goals were correctly ruled out for offside
The first was a fine finish from Cody Gakpo, but the flag was up
 Then, right before half-time, the lively Xavi Simons beat three Arsenal defenders before slotting home, only for former Aston Villa winger Anwar El Ghazi to be penalised by VAR for being offside in the build-up
Ruud van Nistelrooy introduced 32-year-old striker De Jong at the break in what proved to be an inspired decision
 He set up Joey Veerman for PSV's opener (55), holding off Rob Holding with little effort before squaring the ball for the midfielder
 Veerman then slotted home as the Dutch side finally saw a goal stand
De Jong then scored himself
 Gakpo delivered a corner, with Aaron Ramsdale - making his European debut in place of the injured Matt Turner - fumbling his attempt to punch the ball away, allowing the PSV striker to head home (63)
Gakpo again had the ball in the net in the second half, but another offside flag was up, but it did not matter too much as Arsenal offered very little at the other end
While Arteta said he was "disappointed" with the result, he also insisted Arsenal remain in a good place and do not have time to feel sorry for themselves
"It's really difficult to win every game in Europe," he said
 "We are in a really good position
 We're disappointed tonight but there's no time to feel sorry for ourselves
 We have to react
 On Sunday, we have a really important game, and then we'll look at Zurich
"We have to be much better than we were today
 We knew what they were trying to do and the way we executed certain actions, the way we competed, it wasn't good enough
"The battle between the Gunners and PSV for top spot in Group A will now go down to the final group matches next Thursday
 Arsenal remain two points ahead in first, but will want an all-out win against Zurich to send them into the round of 16
PSV had the better chances from the off
 Inside nine minutes, Ramsdale made a superb stop to deny Simons
 The 19-year-old then fed Gakpo at the top of the area, but the PSV captain slipped as he attempted to strike, seeing the ball roll into Ramsdale's arms
Gakpo found the net with the first of his two disallowed goals soon after
 He collected a superb through-ball with William Saliba unable to stop his run, before the PSV captain lifted the ball over the oncoming Ramsdale and into an open net
 However, the flag was up and the goal was ruled out
The incident seemed to galvanise the Gunners somewhat as they began to see their own chances
 Eddie Nketiah drew a fine save from Walter Benitez from close range, before Gabriel Martinelli sent an acrobatic volley well over the crossbar
It was a dramatic end to the first half too as PSV saw another goal ruled out for offside
 Another long pass was touched into Simons' path by El Ghazi
 The teenager then used some sublime footwork to dink past Kieran Tierney, Holding and Saliba before slotting home
 But after a little wait, VAR ruled out the strike
Arsenal could have dealt the ultimate blow with a late goal
 However, after a neat flick from Martinelli, Martin Odegaard's thumping effort was expertly pushed away by Benitez with the last kick of the half
The second half began with chances at both ends - Nketiah and Tierney firing wide before an impressive double save from Ramsdale - but PSV finally took the lead with Veerman's slotted strike, and then quickly doubling it thanks to De Jong's header
The Dutch side could have added another too, but the offside rule was once again their nemesis
 In one of their best moves, Simons drove forward, waiting for support before picking out Ibrahim Sangare to his right
 He then swept a wonderful ball into the area for Gakpo, which the forward dispatched
 But the flag was correctly up once again
De Jong, Simons and Gakpo continued to test Arsenal at the back, but the Gunners could have given themselves a late hope of salvaging a point
 Nketiah fired goalwards from close range, drawing a fine save from Walter Benitez
 With the striker and Gabriel Jesus lurking, Everton loanee Jarrad Branthwaite was across to put the loose ball wide, picking up a kick in his leg in the process
But PSV were certainly worth their victory as Arsenal suffered just their second defeat of the season and the first in the Europa League
It's a struggle to remember a player making such an impact at half-time, but it was a superb 45 minutes from the striker
 It was just the performance he needed as he makes his way back from injury
"I'm very disappointed
 It's the end of a long run, where we won a lot of games and today is our first defeat [since the start of September] and we have to reset
"Congratulations to PSV - they were the better team today
 We were nowhere near our level and we know that in Europe, it's very difficult to win [then]
"We didn't get any control
 We didn't get the ball in the areas we wanted
 We gave so many balls away, which allowed so many transitions, which was what they were looking for whenever they got in the right structure
 They were on top of a lot of things that last week was different
"We have periods where we've been excellent and periods where we've suffered
 For sure, we haven't had the consistency for 95 minutes to maintain the level we want
 That's the next challenge and the next aim for this team
"Today I think it was very different, right from the beginning
 Even though we had periods where we controlled the game, I didn't feel that we had the threat and the aggression that we've been playing at
"That was worrying
 In the second half, the moment something went wrong, we just went down and we didn't really find moments to give us some hope to react and get something out of the game
"It's my responsibility to adapt and to get the best out of the players
 These players have been exceptionally good
 They've been performing at a level that probably no one expected
 It's down to us and especially down to me to get the best out of them - that's it
"Arsenal are back in Premier League action on Sunday when they face bottom side Nottingham Forest at the Emirates; kick-off 2pm
 Their final Europa League group stage fixture is against Zurich on Thursday November 3
PSV face NEC Nijmegen on Sunday in the Eredivisie, before their final Europa League group-stage fixture against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday