Kai Havertz’ last gasp winner in Lisbon last week was ultimately enough to see Mikel Arteta’s side progress to set up a last-four showdown with Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, who edged past Barcelona on Tuesday with a 3-2 aggregate victory.
The Premier League leaders took a narrow 1-0 advantage into the second leg against Sporting and got off to a promising start at the Emirates as Declan Rice and Piero Hincapie snapped into early challenges to win the ball back.
Eberechi Eze – who was starting his first match since the round of sixteen victory over Bayer Leverkusen – produced an early piece of magic to beat two Sporting defenders inside the Portuguese side’s box, but his improvisation came to nothing as Noni Madueke’s effort was blocked.
As the visitors settled, Arsenal took an alternative approach to the home defeat to Bournemouth as they looked to press the Portuguese champions at every possible opportunity.
But it was Sporting who mustered the first big chance of the game after Morita intercepted William Saliba’s poorly executed pass before releasing Trincao into space, who fired just wide of David Raya’s far post.
Eze’s quick thinking then led to a chance for Zubimendi as the Spain midfielder raced in behind the Sporting defence before the ball found its way to the feet of Gyokeres, but goalkeeper Rui Silva did well to smother his former teammate’s point-blank attempt.
Despite several opportunities to get the ball into the Sporting box, Arsenal struggled to get their attacking players involved and came agonisingly close to falling behind when Suarez clipped the outside of the post with a volley from an acute angle.
The second half began with the familiar feeling of a lacking intensity as Noni Madueke and Eze both passed up decent opportunities.
Kai Havertz and Max Dowman came on to replace Viktor Gyokeres and Madueke after the former Chelsea winger went down injured as Mikel Arteta rolled the dice with an attacking double change.
But neither substitute was able to inspire an impact as Sporting defended resolutely.
The visitors rallied for a late goal to send the tie to extra time but were stifled by a pair of late blocks from Hincapie and Gabriel.
Arsenal have just one victory from their last five in all competitions, but all eyes are now on the potentially Premier League title-deciding showdown at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday as Arsenal hope to put one hand on the trophy with a triumph over Manchester City.
ANALYSIS:
Mikel Arteta had described the feeling of “fire” burning inside him ahead of this match, suggesting that he himself was “on fire” as he desperately looks to lead the Gunners to silverware this season.
His widely criticised ‘bring your dinner’ cry that preceded Arsenal’s damaging 2-1 Premier League defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday saw his own team fail to match that energy as the Gunners were comfortably beaten by the Cherries.
The pressure was on Arteta’s side coming into this match, having lost three of their last four matches in all competitions.
In fairness to Arteta, he seemed to have instructed his team to press from the word go. Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Piero Hincapie all won the ball back early on in stark contrast to the way they started the defeat to Bournemouth.
But despite several opportunities to have a shot at goal, Viktor Gyokeres replicated his first-half display in Lisbon last week with two poorly executed efforts when he had yards of space to pick his spot.
It was another example of Arsenal flattering to deceive in front of goal, and with Bukayo Saka still unavailable, Mikel Arteta’s forward options at this point are limited.
Neither Gabriel Martinelli nor Noni Madueke was able to create anything of note from the wide areas, although the former did offer Hincapie a defensive hand by tracking back and winning the ball back on more than one occasion.
Arteta said after the Bournemouth match that his side “made too many basic errors" but doubled down on his intense approach before the Sporting match with the aforementioned “fire” jibe.
That message didn’t seem to find its way into the minds of his players as those basic errors he mentioned post-Bournemouth found their way back into the feet of the Arsenal team.
Sporting smelt blood at various points in the second half as Arsenal continued to make strange passes in their defensive third to invite pressure from the visitors.
Arteta’s hand was forced when Madueke went off injured after clattering into Araujo on the touchline as 16-year-old Max Dowman was pulled on the red and white of Arsenal for the sixth successive game in all competitions.
Ironically, it was Dowman’s fearlessness and drive that struck fear into the hearts of the Sporting defenders, and Araujo was finally booked after making ten fouls across the two legs leading up to the point of the caution.
It felt at times like Arsenal were paralysed by a lack of trust in the players in front of them. Trossard came on to replace Martinelli, and Gabriel Jesus came on for Eze, although neither player looked physically ready to make a contribution.
Despite progressing to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the second successive season, Mikel Arteta should be concerned by the lack of attacking threat his team were able to impose ahead of the biggest game of his managerial career on Sunday when he takes his Arsenal team to the Etihad to face Manchester City.
Player Ratings:
Raya 6 - Initially looked back to his best in possession after a nervous performance last time out against Bournemouth and commanded his box well but misplaced several passes which seemed to unsettle the Arsenal back four.
Mosquera 7 - Came in to replace the struggling Ben White. Slotted in really well and covered the space in excellently.
Saliba 6 – Misplaced a pass 20 minutes in which could have seen Sporting take the lead. He was not convincing in his aerial duels and struggled to use his physicality at times up against Suarez.
Gabriel 6 – Not as solid as ever and uncharacteristically not a threat from set pieces.
Hincapie 8 - Started brilliantly. Snapped into challenges and was typically aggressive in his determination to win the ball back. Harnessed his ferocious energy comfortably.
Zubimendi 6 – Looked better tonight. His recent slump had been forecast for a while due to the near record-breaking minutes since his arrival in the summer.
Rice 7 – Still not physically at it. It faded quickly, and the illness that ruled him out of training on Tuesday prior to the match looked to affect him. Held his own well, though, and led by example with the captain's armband on.
Eze 6 – Arsenal's best attacking threat. Some silky skills complemented his direct approach, but nothing really came off for him in the final third.
Madueke 5 - Worked hard to get beyond Araujo but struggled to create anything from himself or anyone else. Replaced by Dowman after 63 minutes due to injury.
Martinelli 6 - Offered a threat in transition at times but found himself too close to the touchline again.
Gyokeres: 5 – Another invariably poor performance in front of goal. Had two good chances in the first half when space opened up for him but failed to hit the target on both occasions. Replaced by Havertz almost immediately after half-time.
Subs:
Havertz 6 - Offered a focal point when he came on to set up an Eze chance.
Dowman 6 - Looked the most likely to create something once again after coming on. He is probably Arsenal’s strongest attacking threat right now.
Jesus – NA
Trossard - NA