All to play for after Sporting and Arsenal play out 2-2 draw at Alvalade

Abraham Smith

Sporting and Arsenal parted ways in a back-and-forth four-goal duel tonight in a fun night out in Lisbon.

William Saliba opened the scoring for the guests after a corner, Gonçalo Inácio reacted immediately to make it 1-1 at the break. Sporting took the lead through Paulinho but the striker missed a golden opportunity to make it 3-1 and an unfortunate Morita own goal made everything right.

For Sporting, Héctor Bellerín was denied the opportunity to face his former club after picking up an injury in training yesterday, with Ricardo Esgaio replacing him at right-back. Pedro Gonçalves was pulled back into midfield again due to Manuel Ugarte’s suspension.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta resisted the temptation to make sweeping changes while the Londoners were chasing the Premier League title, choosing an almost full squad save for Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Magalhães, who were rested, Jakub Kiwior and Fábio Vieira , which had infrequent starts. Riess Nelson was also rewarded with a place in the starting XI for his heroics at the weekend against Bournemouth.

Arsenal takes the initiative

The game was set from the start, the guests dominated possession and kept the ball almost permanently in Sporting’s defensive half.

However, it was the home side who created the first clear chance, Pote catching a fine Gonçalo Inácio pass over the top, cutting into the box and firing a low shot just wide of the target.

However, it was a rare opportunity in a tenuous game that saw Arsenal continue to look more threatening and the Gunners took the lead with as easy a goal as they could get mid-half. Fábio Vieira deflected a cross from William Saliba safely into the net, the referee waving Sporting’s protest against a foul in the scrum.

Inácio in the foreground

Ten minutes later, Sporting hit back in an identical fashion. Gonçalo Inácio forced a corner with a terrific 25-yarder that Matt Turner had to turn around the post, but the central defender stayed up and nodded Marcus Edwards’ pass into the net, again with very suspicious coverage from the defenders.

Edwards then tried his luck from 25 meters, Turner sprawled to save a diver.

The chances came high and fast now, a combination of Adán and the post stopping Xhaka’s header. Xhaka then lashed out for a wicked Xhaka cross that required a brave push from Adán to avert one last touch from a series of Arsenal attackers waiting to score.

A mix-up in Arsenal’s penalty area almost gave Sporting the lead but Edwards was unaware of the chance and the teams went into the break 1-1.

Locking rod wide open

The second half started with a bang, Trincão sprinting down the left flank and crossing the ball, the ball eventually landed at Morita, whose shot was easily saved by Turner.

The game switched to the other end of the field and Adán saved what looked like a Martineli goal, spreading well as the Brazilian cleaned through.

Vieira slammed a 20-yard shot just wide of the post and a well-crafted move resulted in a Zinchenko cross that headed Martineli over the head as Sporting looked in danger of being rolled over.

But it was the hosts who took the lead for the first time of the evening in the 54th minute. Edwards deftly passed Pote into the box, his first shot was blocked by Turner and Paulinho was there to lunge for the rebound. 2-1 Sporting and the home fans erupted in celebration.

In an extremely open game, Martineli hit back almost directly as he dribbled beautifully past three Sporting players on the halfway line. As Brazilian striker encircled Adán, a sure goal was prevented by a wonderful tackle from St Juste.

key moment

Just after the hour mark, Sporting missed a golden opportunity to extend their lead. In a quick counter-attack, Pote showed nimble feet and a sharp football mind to run through Paulinho cleanly. With only Turner to beat, the Sporting forward blazed his efforts terribly high and wide.

Seconds later, Sporting was asked to pay. Pote lost the ball to a Saka foul passed to Xhaka and the Swiss midfielder’s attempted pass into the box was deflected by Morita and dribbled into the corner of the net while Adán was stuck.

The lively Fábio Vieira then saw a header which Adán brilliantly saved and the Spanish keeper tipped the ball over the bar.

Sporty substitute Diomande looked confident again in a short cameo and even fired a powerful long-range shot not far wide of the goal.

However, as the clock ticked down, the hosts ran out of gas, with Arsenal pushing for a win late on. In stoppage time, Saka sliced ​​inside, firing powerfully but squarely into Adán’s stomach.

Both sides will be reasonably happy with the result and while Arsenal are hot favorites to go through in the second leg, the Lions head into England next week in strong form.

From Tom Kundertat the José Alvalade Stadium

Goals:

[0-1] William Saliba, 22′

[1-1] Gonçalo Inácio, 34′

[2-1] Paulinho, 55′

[2-2] Hidemasa Morita (own goal), 62′

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