Tuesday evening’s Champions League quarter-final between Sporting CP and Arsenal was anything but a thrilling encounter. Both sides demonstrated that their defences were in fine fettle. Nevertheless, Sporting defender Ousmane Diomande managed to bring the crowd to their feet with a superb pass.
It is common knowledge that the Arsenal defence is often well-organised and difficult to break down. The Gunners have conceded the fewest goals in the league, and Mikel Arteta’s side have also conceded just five goals in the Champions League.
Yet Diomande, the Ivory Coast international, managed to completely catch the London defence off guard after just a few minutes. The centre-back managed to create a great chance from what appeared to be an impossible situation.
The Ivorian received the ball around the centre circle and saw left-back Maxi Araújo make a good run into space. With a trivela – a pass with the outside of the foot and Ricardo Quaresma’s signature move – the defender managed to put the Uruguayan through on goal against David Raya and completely catch right-back Ben White off guard.
Araújo then found himself one-on-one with the Spanish goalkeeper and struck the ball superbly. Yet Raya, as has often been the case this season, distinguished himself by just managing to tip the ball onto the crossbar with his fingertips. Thus, the Ivorian’s peerless pass was one that deserved a better fate.
Unfortunately, this brilliant pass was not a harbinger of the rest of the match, which was characterised mainly by solid and organised defending, resulting in hardly any clear-cut chances being created.
For a long time, it looked as though the match would end in a goalless draw, until substitute Kai Havertz converted a fine pass from another substitute, Gabriel Martinelli, into a goal in the closing stages: 0-1.