Arsenal had not been to the semi-finals since 2009 and Arteta has put them among the four best teams in Europe for the second consecutive season. Atlético de Madrid awaits there. Now, it is a team that is very far from the fearsome version that Cholo’s team faced in October. It was a day to hit the table… and they limited themselves to living off the income to defeat a Sporting CP (0-0) that exposed their shortcomings.
“History in our sights” could be read in the typo displayed by one of the Emirates funds. The atmosphere was a great night and they received in style an Arsenal where Arteta renewed the sides with Mosquera and Hincapié, he put Eze in the midfielder and Martinelli on the left. Rui Borges, for his part, introduced Quaresma for the injured Fresneda (asymmetric line of three) and recovered Hjulmand after serving a suspension.
At the beginning, Arsenal did not want to speculate. He was aggressive to recover the ball and tried to take over the match through Rice and Zubimendi. However, Luis Suárez first warned (offside) in Sporting CP’s first start and, immediately afterwards, Trincao looked for the long stick.
Gyökeres replied, without danger, in a direct play action from Raya. A good demonstration that Arsenal were not feeling comfortable either. Little by little, Sporting CP backed down from its aggressiveness when it came to setting marks and individual pursuits. They forced, in fact, several errors in the construction of Raya.
Not even the set piece seemed to accompany the Gunners, who wasted two lateral fouls to test Rui Silva who barely intervened to save a timid ‘header’ from Zubimendi. Arsenal tried to put ‘chloroform’ into the clash. But, on the stroke of half-time, the Emirates held their breath with the volley that Catamo sent into the woodwork from Maxi Araújo’s cross.
Until that moment, Mosquera had managed to contain the Uruguayan quite a bit. Above all, in relation to Ben White in the first leg. Now, as soon as he returned from the locker room, he took a ‘right’ shot from inside the area looking for the long stick of a David Raya who stretched for whatever might happen.
Arsenal responded by connecting several sequences of attacks finished by Eze, Martinelli and Madueke. Arteta, however, was not liking what he was seeing and, before reaching game time, he brought on Havertz for a Gyökeres who again tiptoed. Shortly after, young Dowman also had to jump due to Madueke’s problems.
It was just a feint on Arsenal’s part. Sporting even took control of the territory… and Mosquera took a penalty on Maxi Araújo when he was about to push a serve from Catamo, who was causing havoc on the right. Hincapié was grateful that Rui Borges removed him in the 70th minute for a Quenda who was returning after several months away. Bragança also entered through ‘Pote’ in the opposite sector.
The crash was depressurized with the carousel of changes introduced before facing the final stretch. Joao Simoes gave Morita air in the Sporting engine room and Arteta introduced a double substitution. Trossard for an ill-advised Martinelli to gain control on the left and Gabriel Jesus for Eze (missing) to drop Havertz to midfield.
Time was running out for Sporting and they needed to get back into the rhythm to ‘shock’ an Arsenal team that hit the post from a corner served by Dowman and headed by Trossard. Rui Borges narrowed down his options with Vagiannidis and Rafael Nel. Their tank was emptied before the final push… although Joao Simoes touched the wood in the last one. It was not a stellar performance by the Gunners and it is starting to become a habit. But they are back in the semis… before playing in a Premier League final against City.
