**Arsenal:** Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice, Ødegaard; Madueke, Trossard; Gyökeres
**Subs:** Kepa, Ranson, Mosquera, Salmon, Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard, Dowman, Martinelli, Jesus, Havertz, Harriman-Annous
Arsenal stole a valuable Champions League quarter final first-leg win after beating Sporting 1-0 at the Jose Alvalade stadium on Tuesday, thanks to late strike from Kai Havertz.
Mikel Arteta made eight changes from the side that lost to Southampton last time out, with David Raya, William Saliba, Declan Rice and Viktor Gyokeres all starting from the off.
Jurrien Timber and Bukayo Saka failed to recover from their knocks and missed out on the matchday squad, although Max Dowman was named on the bench once again.
**FIRST HALF**
There was a fierce atmosphere building in the stadium and Sporting took encouragement from their home fans by creating the first chance of the game, when Diomande found Araujo with a brilliant outside-of-the-foot pass which caught Ben White square, before the Uruguayan wing-back smacked an effort onto the crossbar.
Replays actually showed it was a crucial fingertip from David Raya to divert the ball onto the crossbar – and another one for this season’s highlight reel.
But Arsenal hit the woodwork themselves minutes later, when Noni Madueke curled a corner straight onto the crossbar before Martin Odegaard dragged a follow-up effort wide under pressure from Suarez.
The game slowed down after those early chances with Arteta’s men dominating possession (and not doing much with it) against a stubborn Sporting defence, although Araujo was a constant threat down the left side for the hosts.
Sporting did receive two first half bookings, with Morita penalised for a late challenge on Trossard before top scorer Suarez was booked for dissent\*, meaning he will now miss the second-leg in London – bad news for the Portuguese side.
\*This was later clarified as an error.
It took until the 43rd minute for Arsenal to test Rui Silva again when Odegaard shot from distance but the goalkeeper was well behind his right-footed effort.
Things eventually fizzled out towards half time with neither side able to create anything after their early flurries, although the Gunners did settle after a fast Sporting start. They struggled to create much but in the first half of a knockout tie, you can understand them holding back slightly.
**SECOND HALF**
Neither side made a half time change and it was Arsenal who had the first sight of goal when Trossard worked the ball inside but dragged his shot wide from the edge of the box.
Trincao then shot wide for Sporting, before Martin Zubimendi broke the deadlock with a beautifully curled finish into the corner from 20 yards after good play from Viktor Gyokeres and White in the build up.
Although that joy was short lived because Gyokeres was offside in the build up and the goal was ruled out following a VAR check.
With 20 minutes left on the clock, Kai Havertz replaced Odegaard who left the pitch with a slight limp after receiving treatment earlier in the half. The captain had a long talk with Arteta before sitting on the bench – hopefully that issue isn’t serious.
Five minutes later, Gabriel Martinelli and Max Dowman were introduced for Madueke and Trossard with Dowman becoming the youngest English player ever to appear at this stage of the Champions League.
Into the last ten minutes, Raya – who was unsighted by Gabriel in front of him – was sharp again to deny Catamo at the near post, before he made a strong double save to stop a combination of Catamo and Suarez finding the back of the net.
Two minutes of injury time were eventually added on and with both sides seemingly fine with a draw, Arsenal suddenly broke forward and stole a valuable win thanks to Havertz who ghosted in to stun the Alvalade.
It was inspired play from Martinelli who did well to beat two defenders and drive inside off the touchline, before finding the German with a typically clever run – and his touch and finish beyond Rui Silva were perfect. [0-1](https://streamin.link/v/e66e6432).
You can ask questions of another mixed performance but make no mistake, a draw would have been a good result against Sporting who are incredibly strong at home. To steal the win late on should (hopefully) do this team a world of good ahead of another important week in their season.
All eyes to the Emirates for next week’s second leg.