And with that, Arsenal's run of defeats is brought to a close. It was not pretty in Lisbon, far from it in fact. However, as they so often have this term, the Gunners found a way.
Mikel Arteta's men travelled to the Portuguese capital certainly with a lack of confidence. Back to back defeats that ended their quadruple hopes no doubt had a damaging impact on morale but as they defeated Sporting 1-0 on Tuesday night, it will have brought back some belief.
Gyokeres-Gabriel-Havertz-Arsenal
Arsenal were far from their best but, arguably, this was an incredibly professional away performance in the Champions League.
The visitors were not as defensively sound as they have been for much of the campaign but they found a way to keep Sporting out and when Kai Havertz struck in stoppage time, they raced away from Portugal with a precious lead heading into the second leg at the Emirates Stadium.
How Arsenal beat Sporting
Off the back of a Carabao Cup final loss and that ghastly 2-1 defeat to Southampton, it was imperative that Arsenal quickly found a way to bounce back.
Their display on Tuesday evening was not a great one in all honesty and they were perhaps fortunate to fly home with a win.
However, they had goalkeeper David Raya between the sticks to thank. Havertz heralded Raya as "the best 'keeper in the world" at full-time and that was just praise for an awesome performance from the Spaniard.
David-Raya-Arsenal-Champions-League
His most impressive stop came in the first half when left-back Maximilian Araujo caught Ben White out at the back. The Englishman was ball watching and it allowed the Sporting defender to get in behind.
It looked easier to score but Raya got his fingertips to a fizzing effort, tipping the ball onto the bar. Had that gone in it would have been an uphill battle for Arteta's side.
That was just one of five saves that the goalkeeper made on the night, subsequently winning the Man of the Match award.
Arsenal were not at their best at the back. White was perhaps the main culprit in that. His passing was errant and after his misjudgement for the Southampton opener a few days ago, he looked short of confidence.
That said, it could be argued that the Gunners' biggest problem was in attack again where they struggled to create very many clear cut opportunities. Viktor Gyokeres was reduced to just 17 touches of the ball and a single shot against his former employers, largely because of the efforts of those alongside him.
Viktor-Gyokeres-Arsenal
Indeed, Noni Madueke and Martin Odegaard only produced one key pass in the entire game and it was not until Gabriel Martinelli and Havertz came on that things began to change.
Martinelli popped up in injury time to play a lovely dinked ball into the German who took one touch, before side footing the ball home. It felt like a proper smash and grab result from a team who were going through the toughest stage of their season to date.
Arsenal's biggest underperformer against Sporting
To be truthful, there were not many on the away side who stood out for the right reasons in midweek. Havertz came up trumps when it mattered most and Raya was the star of the show between the sticks.
Yet, offensively, something is missing for Arsenal. In attack things are not clicking and you could say that is hardly a surprise considering Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze both missed the tie through injury.
Yet, neither would have stopped the problem that occured on the left wing, an issue that's been apparent for a number of months now.
While Martinelli may have come on and starred from that role, Leandro Trossard once again struggled. The Belgian is enduring the stickiest period of his Arsenal career so far and after his goalless outing in Lisbon, he has now gone 19 matches without finding the net.
Trossard-Fresneda-Arsenal-Sporting
His last goal came against Aston Villa on 30th December, such are his woes, while the winger has also only registered one assist throughout the last ten matches.
Trossard has come up with some huge goals in big moments across his time in north London but it's abundantly clear his powers are waning and that has never been more evident than on Tuesday night.
Arsenal player ratings vs Sporting
David Raya - 9/10
Ben White - 4/10
William Saliba - 7/10
Gabriel Magalhaes - 7/10
Riccardo Calafiori - 6/10
Martin Zubimendi - 6/10
Declan Rice - 7/10
Martin Odegaard - 5/10
Noni Madueke - 6/10
Leandro Trossard - 3/10
Viktor Gyokeres - 5/10
Subs: Havertz (8/10), Martinelli (7/10), Dowman (5/10)
Before being dragged off in the 76th minute, he had registered just two shots, one of which was a terrible drag wide of the near post after cutting inside nicely. The Trossard of old would have banged it top bins but he is desperately out of form and the quality of his finishing was all the proof you needed.
The 31-year-old amassed 36 touches, fewer than Raya's 42 and from his time in possession, he gave away the ball nine times. To make matters worse, he produced no key passes or crosses and completed one of his two dribbles.
Trossard-Arsenal-Sporting
For Arsenal supporters, they have become acustomed to this sort of a performance from the ageing winger. When the Gunners face Bournemouth on Saturday, they must do so without Trossard in the starting lineup.
His future in London now looks pretty bleak. Indeed, if Arsenal are to do any business this summer it must be in a bid to strengthen the left flank, certainly at the expense of Trossard and potentially even Martinelli too.
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