Arsenal play out entertaining draw in Lisbon

Mikel Arteta made six changes from the team that won against Bournemouth at the weekend with Matt Turner starting in goal, Jakub Kiwior making his debut, and Reiss Nelson starting after his late winner.

The Gunners started off in control at the Estádio José Alvalade with plenty of possession of the ball before opening the scoring with just over 20 minutes gone.

@Kapta+

But the home side responded well after going behind and equalised through a near-identical goal. A corner from the right taken by Marcus Edwards was headed in by Gonçalo Inácio. Neither Kiwior nor Turner covered themselves in glory in defending the set piece.

Corners were a big threat for both sides with Granit Xhaka going close from an Arsenal one just before the break but goalkeeper António Adán just did enough to prevent the ball from crossing his line.

Arsenal started the second half well with Gabriel Martinelli and Vieira both having early chances but it was Sporting who got the next goal. 

It all started with a quick Sporting break that Arsenal defended but the Portuguese won the ball back quickly. Edwards played in a low ball to Pedro Gonçalves whose shot was saved by Turner but Paulinho was on hand to tap the ball into an empty net.

Martinelli should have equalised after a brilliant run that saw him through one-on-one with Adán. The Brazilian went around the goalkeeper and was about to tap into an empty net until Jeremiah St. Juste did well to pick up speed and intercept.

The game really opened up and Sporting could have pulled further ahead when Paulinho was played through on goal. However, the forward fluffed his lines with his shot firing wide of Turner’s goal.

Arsenal’s equaliser came in the 62nd with a large degree of luck. First, Sporting weren’t happy that the referee didn’t blow for a foul by Bukayo Saka on Pedro Gonçalves as the Gunners won the ball high up the pitch. The ball came to Granit Xhaka who looked to be playing a cross into the area that was blocked by Hidemasa Morita with the ball trickling into the corner past the wrong-footed Adán.

After a rapid period in the second half the game eventually slowed down to leave everything to play for in the second leg next week.

xG: Sporting (2.09) 2-2 (2.05) Arsenal

This game 🥵🥵🥵

⏰ Sporting 0-1 Arsenal 22'
⏰ Sporting 1-1 Arsenal 34'
⏰ Sporting 2-1 Arsenal 55'
⏰ Sporting 2-2 Arsenal 62'#UEL pic.twitter.com/6lcMxevjRn

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) March 9, 2023