Arsenal 1-1 (p3-5) Sporting: Arsenal was eliminated by Sporting Portugal on Thursday evening in the round of 16 of the Europa League. It will therefore take a while before the Netherlands is certain of sixth place on the UEFA coefficient list and therefore the second direct ticket for the Champions League.
Sporting knocks out English champions elect Arsenal
Just like last week (2-2), Sporting fought their way back against Arsenal. The Londoners then avoided defeat thanks to Granit Xhaka’s luck. A week later, the Swiss opened the score from the rebound after a shot from Gabriel Martinelli.
Despite that dream start, Arsenal faced a difficult evening. Manager Mikel Arteta saw two defenders drop out in the opening phase with Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba and also saw that his team had to deal with wear and tear. Sporting forced extra time thanks to a wonderful goal from Pedro Gonçalves, who hit the mark from the halfway line.
Extra time
Aaron Ramsdale was surprised at that moment, but kept his team going a little later with a great save. In extra time it was substitute Leandro Trossard who was close to the lead with a shot against the post, but it failed to materialize. Therefore, Arteta decided to also bring in captain Martin Ødegaard, initially spared, during extra time.
With the Norwegian playmaker in the team, Arsenal increased the pressure, but Sporting goalkeeper Antonio Adán made two excellent saves on headers from Gabriel Magalhães. The Portuguese had to complete the last few minutes of extra time with ten men due to the second yellow card for Manuel Ugarte, who brought down Bukayo Saka hard, but held on.
Penalty shootout
In the penalty kick series, both teams were equal for a long time. After Jeremiah St. Juste had converted the first penalty kick on behalf of Sporting. It was not until the eighth penalty kick that Martinellli missed on behalf of Arsenal at a 4-3 score. Nuno Santos then made the winning for Sporting, which means that Portugal also has two teams in the last eight.
