Arsenal suffer major setback losing out on penalties against stubborn 10-man Sporting Lisbon in a breathtaking match, played at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.
🟢 Sporting CP are in Friday's #UELdraw 👏#UEL pic.twitter.com/KqsUC5nqFI
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) March 16, 2023
The Gunners started the game strong with captain Granit Xhaka putting his team in front after 19 mintes.
Pedro Conclaves stunned the whole Emirates with his incredible halfway-line strike in the 62nd minute to make the score 1-1.
Afterwards, neither team was able to break the opposing defence and with the first leg settled at 2-2, the two sides went into extra-time.
Arsenal were definetely the more active team in the added 30 minutes with Dutch attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard coming on as a substitution in the 100th minute to boost the Gunners’ attack.
Trossard missed a huge chance seconds before Odegaard came on, after Lisbon Dario Essugo carelessly passed the ball back and gifted the Belgian a one-on-one opportunity against goalkeeper Adan, who came to the rescue, much to the delight of the visiting side.
Arsenal were given a late boost as midfielder Manuel Ugarte was booked for a second time and sent off in the 118th minute. However, time was insufficient and Sporting held on to send the tie into a penalty shootout.
Gabriel Martineli was the big sinner for the Premier League leaders as his shot was saved by Sporting hero Adan. That left Santos with the chance to send his team to the last 8, which he did with ruthlessness, smashing it past goalkeeper Ramsdale.