Sporting CP vs. Arsenal – Football Match Report – March 9, 2023
ESPN3 minutes read
Arsenal are set to draw 2-2 at the Emirates Stadium in the second leg of the Europa League round of 16 against Sporting CP after a home and away leg on Thursday in Lisbon.
The sides traded headers for corners in the first half, with William Saliba scoring the opener for the Premier League leaders before Goncalo Inacio equalized for the Portuguese hosts.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (US)
– Europa League knockout round draw: full details
The pattern reversed in the second half. Sporting took the lead through Paulinho ten minutes after the break before Arsenal equalized with a lucky own goal when a cross from Granit Xhaka was deflected off the unfortunate Hidemasa Morita.
Mikel Arteta made six changes to the line-up that defeated Bournemouth in dramatic fashion on Saturday to maintain their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The hero of that opportunity, Reiss Nelson, got a starting spot, while Matt Turner made his first appearance in goal since January.
Sporting started off brilliantly with a run of four straight wins in all competitions. With less than six minutes played, Pedro Goncalves uncovered some flaws in Arsenal’s defense to get into the box for a clear shot on goal, only to find his lateral foot wide.
However, it was Arsenal who scored first in the 22nd minute. Saliba used weak cover in the penalty area to head down from the left and into the goal after a Fabio Vieira corner.
Arsenal came close to a second goal when Oleksandr Zinchenko received a second bite after his first free-kick was blocked and jabbed Antonio Adan’s fingertips as the Sporting keeper flipped the ball over the bar.
However, Sporting would go into the half-time break after a more suspect set-piece defense. With Turner rooted to his line and debutant Jakub Kiwior ducking out of the way, Inacio was allowed a free jump into the six-yard box to head into a Marcus Edwards corner.
Xhaka almost restored Arsenal’s lead with another header from a corner, but the visitors were lucky to go into the break. Turner escaped a nervous moment when his pass to Saliba was easily intercepted in his own box, only for the United States No. 1 to gratefully jump on the loose ball.
At the beginning of the second half, the action shifted up a gear. Arsenal took a narrow lead through Vieira and Gabriel Martinelli before Sporting took the lead for the first time in the 55th minute. Turner did well to save Goncalves’ initial attempt after a clean reverse ball from Edwards but was powerless to stop Paulinho from spinning the rebound.
The hosts’ lead was not to last long as Arsenal capitalized on a huge stroke of luck to level the game again just seven minutes later. Xhaka aimed a pass into the box for Martinelli’s run, but instead hit Morita’s chest to find Adan in the Sporting goal completely wrong-footed.
Both sides made a number of substitutions in the final quarter of the competition but it felt that neither side was too disappointed to make it all clear ahead of the second leg in London in a week’s time.