The tie is long and they know that they will play the second leg in the Emirates…just like what happened in the round of 16 against Bayer Leverkusen. The goal and respect on the part of both teams suggested that they were buying the tie. But, when injury time came, Kai Havertz injected ‘poison’ into Sporting CP (0-1) to tilt the tie in favor of the Arsenal and chase away the doubts generated during the last weeks.
With the already known loss of Wheelman by sanction, Rui Borges He arranged the expected eleven in the Sporting CP with the young man João Simoes accompanying Morita in the engine room. Arteta also confirmed in advance the absences of Timber y Saka…but he did opt for a Gabriel that arrived between cotton. All eyes, yes, pointed towards Rooted on his return to Alvalade.
Without even wanting to raise the revolutions of the meeting, the Arsenal He came out with the clear intention of taking the initiative. Now, it did not shrink by much Sporting CP who tried to discuss possession with them… and hit the crossbar with a shot. Maxi Araújo at six minutes. He touched her Raya with the tips of your fingers.
Approaching the first quarter of an hour, the ‘little leg’ showed the Arsenal for the first time. As usual, resorting to his power from set pieces. And, after a lateral foul taken by Odegaard that ended in the corner flag, only the crossbar could prevent the Olympic goal of Madueke.
It was from then on when the Arsenal conveyed the sensation of beginning to control the party territorially… while Maxi Araújo was increasingly controlled by the left sector of the Sporting CP. Respect, or rather fear of making a mistake, was pushed to the limit by both teams.
Rui Borges’ men entered the second half with a little more intensity. Now, the gas tank was soon left in reserve and, at game time, Rui Borges brought on Daniel Bragança for the young Joao Simoes… despite the fact that Morita had a yellow card from the first half.
While Sporting were repositioning themselves, Zubimendi silenced Alvalade with a ‘whip’ close to the short post from the balcony of the area that, however, was annulled due to Gyökeres’ prior offside at the time of unloading. The Swede tiptoed on his return to Lisbon… to the point that he barely landed a shot in the entire match.
took advantage Arteta to move the bench. He entered first Havertz for a Odegaard physically weighed down and, with 15 minutes remaining, he sought to agitate with Dowman y Martinelli. It came out right. And, after several hands of Raya ante Catamo y Luis Suarezthe Brazilian drew the diagonal inwards and assisted Kai in the discount to break the resistance of a Alvalade where the Sporting CP He counted his matches by victories in this Champions.
