Well, that was fun.
Arsenal produced their best away European performance of Mikel Arteta’s five years in charge to thump Sporting Lisbon 5-1 at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
The result – equalling our biggest winning margin on the road in either the Champions League or European Cup – puts the Gunners in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stages via a top-eight finish while also breathing new belief into a season after a period of stuttering autumnal form.
Prior to the match, much of the talk focused on Sporting’s incredible form, particularly in Lisbon. The reigning Portuguese champions won all 17 of last season’s home league games, hadn’t lost to any side on their patch since October 2023 and recently humbled Manchester City. Make no mistake, despite their recent change of head coach, this was a fortress that Arsenal bulldozed.
While Arteta consistently talks about the importance of tackling games one at a time, Saturday’s surprise lineup against Forest suggested the Spaniard had been eyeing this challenge for a while. Declan Rice, Thomas Partey, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli were all restored to the starting lineup – arguably our strongest of the season – while the bench was packed full of experience. With only Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White missing the trip due to injury, the only teenage presence was keeper Tommy Setford and regulars Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri.
You sensed immediately that Arsenal meant business. Inside the opening minute, Odegaard and Martinelli found themselves in dangerous positions. It set the tone for an evening when we pressed with menace knowing Sporting stubbornly adhered to a policy of playing out from the back. Having struggled for goals away from home in Europe, the question was whether we could tighten the screw by finding the net.
On seven minutes we did exactly that. Partey and Odegaard combined off the right flank to find Rice in a pocket of space. The England international wasted no time releasing Timber who teased a ball across the six-yard box that Martinelli converted at the back post with a late run behind his marker. It was precise, quick football and the Brazilian’s fourth goal of the season completely caught the hosts off guard.
In the immediate aftermath, Arsenal retreated into a compact, narrow unit with all 11 men behind the ball and it looked like we might be tempted to sit on the lead. Sporting huffed and puffed for a couple of minutes but struggled to produce anything of merit and realised soon enough that any sloppy play would be punished by a swift counter-attack. Time and time again in the first half, Arsenal sliced through the centre of the pitch trying to work space for Saka on the right. According to TNT Sports, 65% of first half attacks came down that side. And with good reason.
The winger knew he had the beating of his marker, Goncalo Inacio, whether he had the ball at his feet or if he was sprinting behind. Sure enough, when Partey lofted a pass inside the Sporting left-back on 20 minutes, Saka, who’d been pointing where he wanted the ball, burst into the box and toe-poked it past the onrushing keeper Franco Israel for Havertz to tap into an empty net. It was beautiful in its simplicity.
The rest of the half was played with a real swagger. Partey absolutely dominated the midfield – a performance later described by the manager as “one of the best I have seen from him” – while Odegaard pulled the strings in pockets of space. The Norwegian is like a softly tailored suit worn with a Cuban collar shirt, there’s always a level of panache elevating that smart-casual way of his. While it’s reductive to suggest the captain single-handedly makes Arsenal look good, it does feel that way on nights like this.
“He’s an unbelievable player, the day he returned there was a big smile on my face,” said Saka afterwards. “I’m happy he’s back and I hope he stays fit for the rest of the season.”
Saka, Havertz and Rice all had half chances to extend the lead, Raya made a smart stop from 17-year-old Quenda, who showed quick feet before firing from long range, and Gabriel earned his flowers from the travelling Gooners for seeing Viktor Gyokeres out of play on a couple of occasions. Just to rub salt in the Swede’s wounds, Big Gabi barrelled home a header from a delicious Rice corner on the stroke of half-time and promptly stole his opponent’s trademark mask celebration. Top shithousery from the centre-back.
A three-goal advantage at the break felt like job done. Sort of. You just hoped we wouldn’t do anything silly like conceding a sloppy goal early in the second period. So, of course, that’s what we did. Raya had already been tested by a bouncing shot by Morita when Ignacio flashed home a first-time volley from the resulting corner. Taking nothing away from the finish or the way Sporting muscled Odegaard and Saka out of things, we shouldn’t be allowing a player to convert like that at the near post. Calafiori looked to be the marker but he was left in a heap on the turf. One to analyse when the boys are back at London Colney.
The goal breathed life into the Alvalade, and for a while Sporting threatened an unlikely comeback. Gyokeres, with the bit between his teeth, won a free-kick from Gabriel before firing the set piece into Row Z. On commentary, Steve McMananaman was so desperate for the ball to go in, that he screamed ‘Bang’ when the striker hit the ball. Do fuck off, Steve.
Ineffective in the first half, Marcus Edwards also came into things, firing over and forcing us to defend a deflected cross. In response, Arsenal tried to take the sting out of things. Raya picked up a booking for time-wasting and the Polish referee punished Jurrien Timber for dawdling over a throw-in, something he did repeatedly all night much to the annoyance of the home support.
It would be hyperbolic to suggest Arsenal were clinging on for dear life at the hour-mark, but after Gyokeres fired another attempt over the bar, we were very thankful that Sporting shot themselves in the foot. Young defender Ousmane Diomande, already on a booking for an earlier foul on Havertz, went through the back of Odegaard in the box, to concede a penalty which player-of-the-match Saka converted with trademark aplomb. Added to his earlier assist that’s now 15 goal involvements in 17 appearances this season.
The penalty really popped the Sporting balloon and from there on out, the Gunners kept their opponents at arm’s length while playing on the break.
Arteta introduced Trossard and Merino with 20 minutes remaining and then sent on Nwaneri and Zinchenko as we rested some of the big guns for Saturday’s trip to West Ham. The substitutes all looked hungry and when Merino fired a fierce effort goalwards, Trossard helped himself to the rebound to head home and round off a very satisfying evening.
There’s no denying Arsenal have looked stodgy at times this season so this was a timely reminder of what we’re capable of when our best players are available.
While Sporting ended the game with more possession and more attempts on goal (19 vs 13), xG was heavily weighted in the Gunners’ favour (0.97 vs 4.23).
Sporting CP (0.97) 1-5 (4.23) Arsenal
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) November 26, 2024
There was absolutely no doubting who were the better team leading Arteta to purr in his post-game press conference:
“We were so good, you have to be so good in every department and we suffered as well in many moments in the game but we were so effective and so efficient when we start to attack the position and today that was a big difference.”
Speaking to TNT Sports, he added:
“I’m very happy. It’s a big result against a big opponent. I think they haven’t lost a game here in 18 months and we wanted to make a statement. I felt really good energy, really good belief before the match. You have to put it into practice. I think the first half was exceptional. It gave us the platform to win the game and a really positive and important win for us.”
While you can’t draw too many conclusions from the Champions League table at this point, Arsenal’s tally of 10 points from five games is very solid. And with home games against Monaco and Dinamo Zagreb to come and a trip to Girona rounding things off in January, we’re well-placed to secure the top-eight finish that would see us avoid two extra games in February.
It’s probably not worth looking too far ahead at this point. Importantly, we’ve started to build momentum that we’ll be hoping to sustain at the London Stadium on Saturday.
If you’re out in Portugal, like Blogs, enjoy the rest of your trip. Lewis Ambrose will be covering tomorrow before normal service is resumed on Friday.
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