Kai Havertz, the hero of the night for Arsenal, expressed his immense joy after scoring the decisive winner, emphasising that the London side had achieved an important result but that the job was not yet done.
Arsenal returned with a precious 1-0 victory away to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday evening in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at the José Alvalade Stadium, thanks to Havertz’s goal in the second minute of stoppage time.
Speaking to Amazon Prime about the winning goal and Gabriel Martinelli’s assist, Havertz said: “Scoring a late goal is always a great feeling, especially in front of our fans. We’ve got the result we needed, but there’s still a lot of work ahead of us next week.”
Referring to Martinelli’s decisive pass, he added: “A classy piece of play; this lad has immense quality. As a striker or attacking midfielder, you’re always waiting for moments like this, and he executed it perfectly, so the credit goes to Martinelli.”
On the course of the match, the German star explained: “It was an open game, but I think we controlled it well for the most part. Football is decided by moments like this. Overall, we played a very good game and we can be proud of ourselves. Now we’ll rest up and be back again on Saturday.”
Reflecting on overcoming the recent dip in form, Havertz said: “It’s definitely a big turnaround for us because we lost our last two matches, so we wanted to change that run today and we succeeded. We’re united as a group, and we still have a lot to offer this season. There are seven weeks left; we can win major trophies and we’ll fight for them.”
Havertz concluded his remarks with exceptional praise for the team’s goalkeeper, David Raya, saying: “He’s incredible. I think he’s still underrated in the world of football, but for me, he’s been the best goalkeeper in the world over the past two seasons. He’s amazing; he’s saved us so many times and we’re absolutely delighted to have him with us.”