Looking to get back to winning ways after crashing out of the FA Cup at the hands of Southampton, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal travelled to Lisbon to face Sporting CP in the Champions League. After 90 minutes of substandard action, it ended 1-0 to the Gunners.
It almost took Rui Borges’ Sporting just seven minutes to draw first blood after Ousmane Diomande’s outside-the-boot pass found a marauding Maxi Araujo – but David Raya tipped his effort onto the bar.
The Gunners had chances of their own – two which struck the upright – but both teams entered the break with zero goals apiece. You’d argue that Sporting would’ve been the happier side at half-time.
After emerging from the tunnel, Martin Zubimendi steered an effort wonderfully beyond Sporting’s shot stopper in the 64th minute but it was retrospectively chalked off for offside.
Arteta introduced the likes of Max Dowman, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz to try and push for a match-winner late on – and it was the latter who made the difference in the final seconds of the match, poking home beyond Rui Silva.
| Sporting CP | Statistic | Arsenal |
| 44% | Possession | 56% |
| 11 | Total shots | 7 |
| 5 | Shots on target | 4 |
| 3 | Corners | 4 |
| 3 | Saves | 5 |
| 1 | Yellow cards | 0 |
Arsenal player ratings vs Sporting CP
David Raya – 8/10
Kept the scoreline at 0-0 with a terrific fingertip save early on and then dove down to his right just four minutes later. Remained alert and did well to sweep up a long ball from Sporting in the 55th minute.
Ben White – 4/10
Filled in at right-back in the absence of Jurrien Timber, the Englishman defended well early on but fell asleep when a ball was played over the top. Luckily, he got away with it.
Gabriel Magalhaes – 5/10
Animated on the ball and unable to be the talismanic figure in the heart of the backline, Gabriel was largely ineffective in both boxes.
William Saliba – 6/10
Often spent too much time on the ball when a killer pass was on and, when defending, he committed way too many fouls but did eliminate the threat of Luis Suarez.
Riccardo Calafiori – 4/10
Seldom involved in the first half but his passing improved tenfold in the second 45, with him often splitting lines and finding his teammates further forward.
Declan Rice – 5/10
Back after being fully rested, the midfielder’s early passes were crisp and precise but it was quite clear that he was running on fumes for the majority of the Lisbon-based tie.
Martin Zubimendi – 4/10
Looked to dictate play in the middle but his passing was erratic, especially when playing it back to Raya in the 38th minute. His shot, which resulted in a goal, was his finest moment.
Martin Odegaard (70′) – 4/10
The Arsenal captain didn’t mind picking up the ball in defensive areas when his side were in need of control but his possession largely led to nothing. Arteta and his men need more from their skipper. At times, he didn’t look fully fit.
Noni Madeuke (76′) – 6/10
Caused some issues down the right flank and even struck the crossbar with a whipped in corner. Arsenal’s primary live wire in the opening 45 minutes – and that continued into the second half.
Viktor Gyokeres – 3/10
Hardly showed for the ball in the encounter’s early sparring, Gyokeres did very little to help his teammates. Too lazy to get onside in the lead-up to Zubimendi’s goal.
Leandro Trossard (76′) – 4/10
Much of Arsenal’s play went up the right in the first half, which restricted Trossard’s involvement going forward. Looked far more energetic in the second half but his effort was to no avail.
Substitutes
Kai Havertz (70′) – 8/10
The match winner! Thrown into the mix to make a difference but he struggled to make much stick until he bagged very, very late on.
Gabriel Martinelli (76′) – 6/10
Let off a mean strike just after entering the fray and it was his assist that set up Havertz at the death.
Max Dowman (76′) – 5/10
Arsenal’s wonder kid was (unsurprisingly!) a bright spark in his short cameo.
