Arsenal welcomed Sporting CP at the Emirates Stadium earlier tonight as they looked to earn a positive result at home in the UEFA Europa League. The Gunners made a promising start to the game and got their noses ahead in the 19th minute when Granit Xhaka got his name on the scoresheet. Mikel Arteta’s men managed to get to the half-time break 1-0 up on the scoreline.
Sporting managed to equalise in the 62nd minute via Pedro Goncalves’ effort which took the match to extra time after the tie finished 3-3 on aggregate.
Both teams canceled each other out as the contest ended 3-3 after 120 minutes. Arsenal lost the tie on penalties (3-5) which knocked them out of the Europa League.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player fared during the match against Sporting.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale – 6/10
The English keeper made one good save in the game but failed to stop a penalty in the shootout.
RB: Takehiro Tomiyasu – N/A
He had to go off with an injury in the eight-minute.
CB: William Saliba – 6.5/10
Saliba began the game well but had to be replaced in the 20th minute.
CB: Gabriel – 7.5/10
He won his fair share of aerial duels and gave a good account of himself on the defensive third of the pitch.
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 7/10
Zinchenko did his fair share of defending and had a couple of lively moments in the final third.
CM: Fabio Vieira – 6/10
He struggled to get a foothold in the game and did well to last 100 minutes before being replaced.
CM: Jorginho – 6.5/10
Jorginho anchored the midfield with conviction during his time on the field.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 8.5/10
Xhaka opened the goal-scoring for Arsenal in the 19th minute and got stuck in with a lot of solid tackles at the centre of the park. He was Arsenal’s best player on the pitch tonight.
RW: Reiss Nelson – 6.5/10
He had a couple of bright moments down the right flank but never got a sniff at goal.
ST: Gabriel Jesus – 7/10
Jesus made a couple of encouraging runs with the ball in the first half and was substituted at half-time.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – 7/10
He came back to defend when needed and completed a few dangerous dribbles in the final third. However, Martinelli saw his spot-kick saved in the shootout which ended up costing Arsenal the result.
Substitutes:
RB: Ben White – 7/10
White made a few important defensive contributions at the back.
CB: Rob Holding – 6.5/10
He tried his best to keep things tidy when defending inside his half.
ST: Leandro Trossard – 6.5/10
Trossard engineered some inviting chances for others around him and scored his penalty in the shootout.
CM: Thomas Partey – 6.5/10
He added some bite and steel to Arteta’s midfield.
RW: Bukayo Saka – 7/10
Saka caused a few headaches for the opposition defenders and scored his spot-kick in the shootout.
CAM: Martin Odegaard – 6.5/10
Odegaard converted from the spot in the penalty shootout.
 after playing out a 1-1 draw in the UEFA Europa League.){kind=link}