The hopes for Arsenal to have a European title concluded when the Premier League table toppers got eliminated from the Europa League by facing a defeat against Sporting Lisbon in a penalty shootout. Lisbon, with their win against Arsenal, reached the quarterfinals by prevailing 5-3 in the shootout at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday after a 1-1 draw in regulation in the second leg of their round-of-16 encounter. The first leg ended 2-2. Gabriel Martinelli primarily failed to convert from the spot for his club.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta in this regard
Mikel Arteta said in this regard that it had been a huge blow for them. He said that there were moments, especially during the initial 75 minutes, when they weren’t at their level and primarily gave every ball away.
Manchester United, on the other hand, also cruised into the quarterfinals after a 1-0 victory at Real Betis. In Arsenal’s match, they dominated the extra time with their playmaker Martin Odegaard who came as a substitute. However, Antonia Adan performed some incredible saves for his club during the penalty shootout and, eventually, the EPL best couldn’t get ahead of the tournament.
The match
The match saw the first goal from Arsenal’s side when Granit Xhaka gave his club an early lead in the 19th minute. The match was more or less in their hands; however, Pedro Goncalves equalized for Sporting Lisbon in the 62nd minute, and with that, Arsenal could get a lead for the second time in the match. However, as mentioned, Arsenal gave a tough fight to their opposition at the additional time but it wasn’t enough to get a lead in the match for the second time, and eventually, Lisbon sealed the victory at the shootout.
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