As tea-time approached in Lisbon and players emerged from the tunnel, huge sections of this arena lay quiet and empty. Not many fans. Not much atmosphere, either. An hour later, it was a hive of noise and energy.
By then, chaos had taken centre stage and somehow, at the end of a Europa League last-16 first leg that descended into frenzy, Arsenal and Sporting were on terms. Somehow, they had shared only four goals.
Arsenal will take that. They head into next week’s return leg in command without ever really being in control.
This was low on quality and high on carnage, best encapsulated by seven second-half minutes that began with Paulinho putting Sporting ahead and ended with Hidemasa Morita putting the ball in his own net. In between? Bedlam.
First, Gabriel Martinelli collected possession inside his own half and opted for the impossible. He beat a couple of defenders, he bundled through another and suddenly Arsenal’s auxiliary No 9 was through on goal. Martinelli rounded the goalkeeper, only for Jeremiah St Juste’s last-ditch tackle to prevent an incredible solo goal.
Arsenal defender William Saliba opened the scoring on 22 minutes against Sporting Lisbon
Saliba put the visitors ahead with a towering header from a corner by midfielder Fabio Vieira
MATCH FACTS AND PLAYER RATINGS
Sporting Lisbon (3-4-3): Adan 7; St Juste 7, Coates 5, Inacio 7; Esgaio 6 (Diomande 76min) Goncalves 7, Morita 6, Reis 6; Edwards 8 (Fatawu 89), Paulinho 6.5 (Chermiti 76), Trincao 6.5 (Santos 71, 6).
Booked: Morita, Coates
Goals: Inacio 34, Paulinho 55.
Manager: Ruben Amorim 6.5.
Arsenal (4-3-3): Turner 5; White 5, Saliba 7, Kiwior 6 (Gabriel 71, 6.5), Zinchenko 6 (Tomiyasu 63, 6.5); Vieira 6.5, Jorginho 5 (Partey 71, 6), Xhaka 6; Saka 6, Martinelli 6.5, Nelson 5 (Smith Rowe 71, 5.5).
Booked: Zinchenko, Martinelli.
Goals: Saliba 22, Morita 62 (OG).
Manager: Mikel Arteta 6.5.
Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany) 6.
Attendance: 36,006.
Soon, Sporting were wondering: what if? Fine interplay put Paulinho in behind but he fluffed the chance to kill this game and, moments later, Arsenal were level. Granit Xhaka’s attempted pass struck Morita and wrong-footed Antonio Adan. That made it 2-2; then came the comedown – a wild game ended with a whimper.
Arsenal won’t care. The Premier League leaders escape with parity. Mikel Arteta’s side had led through William Saliba’s early header but the visitors lacked cohesion and, at times, discipline, too. While Saliba celebrated, Oleksandr Zinchenko sparked a shoving match for taunting Matheus Reis.
At the other end, ex-Tottenham youngster Marcus Edwards was a key weapon for Sporting, who sit fourth in Portugal’s top flight and were without ex-Gunner Hector Bellerin. But this tie remains in Arsenal’s grasp. Just.
‘When you concede two poor goals like we did, away from home in Europe, it’s very difficult to get a positive result,’ Arteta said.
‘We showed a lot of resilience to get back in the game but we need to defend our box much better.’
After all of the manager’s secrecy and slippery answers, Gabriel Jesus wasn’t even in the country. The Brazilian is close to returning following knee surgery. But full-fitness eludes him for now.
He is not alone – Kieran Tierney and Martin Odegaard were both unwell. Eddie Nketiah and Leandro Trossard are both injured.
The enforced reshuffle included a debut for January signing Jakub Kiwior, who had a chastening evening. Particularly for Sporting’s equaliser. It came via a devilish corner from Edwards. The defending though, dear me. Martinelli allowed Goncalo Inacio a run at goal, Turner stayed on his line, Kiwior decided against heading the ball altogether.
Goncalo Inacio nodded home the equaliser after hesitancy from keeper Matt Turner
Set pieces have been a recurring problem recently. Here, though, Arsenal invited chances from everywhere. Jorginho gifted Pedro Goncalves an early opening. Edwards and Inacio both forced smart saves from Turner, whose own blunder nearly gifted Sporting a second. And yet, had Xhaka’s header crept over the line, the visitors would have led at the break. Instead, these teams headed in level.
When they returned, all hell broke loose. First came a flurry of Arsenal chances. Martinelli was denied by Adan; Vieira shot just wide. Then Sporting struck. Edwards put Goncalves in on goal, his shot was palmed out by Turner into the path of Paulinho. Alas, that was not to be end of the goals. Or the chaos.
‘If you were to ask any Sporting fan before the match if a draw would be a good result, they would say yes,’ Ruben Amorim said.
‘Now taking into account the 90 minutess, some of them will be disappointed.’
Forward Paulinho put Sporting ahead from close range in the 55th minute
Arsenal drew level in the 62nd minute thanks to Granit Xhaka’s deflected cross.
source: dailymail.co.uk
