Sporting Clube de Portugal 1 – 5 Arsenal – Match report

We put in one of our best away performances in the Champions League in recent times and secured a clear win in Lisbon.

Against the reigning Portuguese champions – who were unbeaten all season and were second in the Champions League league stage at the start of the game – we scored three goals without conceding in a dominant first half. Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz gave us the lead before Gabriel headed into the goal from a corner shortly before half-time.

An early second-half goal from Goncalo Inacio gave the hosts brief hope, but Bukayo Saka’s penalty and Leandro Trossard’s late strike after a parried shot from Mikel Merino added brilliance to a remarkable evening in Europe.

The Arsenal fans who traveled along were able to celebrate our biggest away win in the competition since beating Inter by the same result in 2003.

Martinelli’s magic

Another European away day, another exciting home atmosphere that we wanted to dampen right from the start and we did just that in the first ten minutes.

We started very well and had our first shot on goal in the first minute, but Riccardo Calafiori’s follow-up shot after Martinelli’s cross was half-cleared went harmlessly wide.

We continued to dictate the early game – Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka combined well in the penalty area, but the hosts repelled the danger.

Then the breakthrough came. Jurrien Timber found space on the right, sent a low cross that raised questions the Portuguese defense couldn’t answer, and Martinelli stole in and fired past Franco Israel.

It was our first away goal in the Champions League since Eddie Nketiah scored against Eindhoven in December last year.

However, we got good value for money for the guided tour. Sporting – with a 100 percent domestic record this season – had barely gotten into our half in the first ten minutes.

Explosive gunners

It wasn’t a big surprise back then when we doubled the lead midway through the first half. Again the build-up came down the right side, this time Thomas Partey lifted a ball over the defense for Saka to scamper onto. He poked the ball through the legs of the advancing goalkeeper in the penalty area, and Havertz had the simple task of knocking the ball in from a yard or two away.

The home fans began setting off fireworks at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, but the entertainment was provided by the boys in red and white.

We let the ball move around in midfield, which caused a lot of problems for a team that hasn’t lost a single point at home in the league since the season before last.

The locals were becoming increasingly restless and were not used to a visiting team dominating them in this way. Their last home game in this competition, let’s not forget, was a 4-1 win against Manchester City.

And literally with the last touch of the first half, Gabriel increased the score to 3-0. Declan Rice’s evasive corner from the right was just the thing for our tall Brazilian defender, who headed home at the far post. It was a near perfect performance in the first half.

Sporting’s revival

Sporting were simply not used to being in this position and showed renewed determination in the second half.

A minute after the restart, David Raya made a save from deep to deny Hidemasa Morita, and from the resulting corner, Goncalo Inacio converted the ball into the goal at the near post.

Hope for the home side and the volume was raised a few notches. Now it was our turn to come under pressure. Shortly afterwards, Viktor Gyokeres won a free kick right on the edge of the penalty area, took it himself and shot well over the goal.

Responsible again

The momentum had changed, but in a brief moment it was back in our favor. Odegaard burst into the penalty area and his advance was abruptly halted by a challenge from Ousmane Diomande. There was a penalty and Saka scored the decisive goal, his first away goal in the competition.

The three-goal lead was restored and we were back in control of the game. The submarines came and two of them joined to form our fifth. Mikel Merino’s long-range shot was parried by Israel and Trossard finished the ball.

Ethan Nwaneri could have added a late sixth, but the job was already done by that point.

What’s next?

On Saturday we travel across London to take on West Ham United in the Premier League at the London Stadium before hosting Manchester United in midweek. We still have three Champions League group stage games left – the next two at home, against Monaco (December 11th) and Dinamo Zagreb (January 22nd).