Arsenal have beaten FC Porto and progressed into the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The Portuguese side travelled to North London with a goal advantage, having won the first leg through a late goal from Galeno.
Chances for either side were scarce in the first half, as Porto looked to contain Arsenal and protect their advantage. However, the deadlock would be broken by Leandro Trossard before half-time, courtesy of a beautifully executed pass by Martin Odegaard. However, Porto’s gameplan didn’t appear to change, and both teams found chances hard to come by.
David Raya and Diogo Costa both made saves as the game drew towards its conclusion, and extra-time came and went with the aggregate score still level. Penalties it was, and Arsenal hearts would’ve been pumping hard with memories still fresh of last season’s Europa League exit to Sporting CP via penalties.
Arsenal won both tosses of the coin and chose to shoot first in front of their fans in the North Bank. Odegaard and Pepe both scored their team’s first penalties before Kai Havertz made it 2-1 with a cool strike that sent Costa the wrong way. Left-back Wendell was next for Porto and saw his penalty tipped onto the post by Raya.
Bukayo Saka was next and needed to score to give Arsenal the advantage. The Gunners’ young winger hadn’t had the best of games but showed no sign of nervousness as he fired into the corner. Substitute Marko Grujic would score for Porto before Declan Rice did likewise to put the penalties into a sudden-death state.
Scorer from the first leg Galeno stepped up to keep his side in the tie but was denied by the hero of the night Raya, leading to mass ecstasy in the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal had broken two serious ducks, reaching their first Champions League quarter-final in 14 years and breaking a run of five knockout games without a win at the Emirates Stadium under Mikel Arteta.
David Raya is here to stay
Raya has spent much of the early months of his Arsenal career fighting off question marks. There have been constant questions over Arsenal’s decision to sign the Spaniard given Aaron Ramsdale’s great form since arriving in 2021, and the discussion looked to have affected the goalkeeper for some time. Mistakes were not uncommon and only served to increase the intensity of the questions.
Gradually, Raya has settled and the benefits he brings to the goalkeeper position for Arsenal have become clearer and clearer. The way he dominates his box, his long passing, his anticipation when coming off his line and his calm persona are just some of the attributes Arsenal have benefitted from this season.
His shot-stopping, for Arsenal has arguably been worse than Ramsdale’s but it was key on Tuesday night. His two penalty saves won Arsenal the tie and he was rightly swamped by his teammates in celebration. Often it feels like a player struggling to adapt needs one big moment to truly be accommodated and Raya certainly has had that moment now.
Ramsdale hugged his fellow goalkeeper and has been a picture of maturity throughout this situation but it looks certain the Englishman will now depart in the summer.
Arsenal cannot afford to underestimate any opponent
When it was Porto who were drawn out of the pot to face Arsenal, many thought it was a favourable draw for the Gunners. A big club of course, but a team faltering in league competition and no match for high-flying Arsenal.
In fact, what Arsenal faced was an extremely experienced Champions League team with a very good game plan, executed perfectly. Over the two legs, the Portuguese side restricted usually free-scoring Arsenal to just four shots on target and frustrated the Gunners with constant tactics to slow down the game and break down play. Were it not for Raya’s penalty heroics, Porto would’ve been into the quarter-finals having neutralised Arsenal’s massive quality.
Porto are not averse to giving the best sides trouble in the Champions League and led by Pepe, who at the age of 41, is still dominant when defending the box, have often troubled the teams who go furthest in the competition.
Arsenal are right to celebrate getting past Sergio Conceicao’s tricky tactics but must take an important lesson into their future Champions League participation, and that is to not underestimate any opponent.
Arsenal are mentally stronger this season
Around this time last year, Arsenal found themselves in a similar position. Locked level on aggregate in a second leg against Sporting CP in the Europa League. They were heading towards penalties but had suffered from two injuries in the game too. That night, the Gunners could not better their Portuguese opposition on penalties and the loss, as well as the injuries proved catastrophic.
The Europa League had served as almost a fall back option should Arsenal fail to win the Premier League and an additional route to silverware with Arsenal out of both domestic cups. With that route closed off, all the pressure of Arsenal’s season was transferred to the Premier League and the Gunners did not cope with that pressure, losing the league late on.
Had Arsenal been knocked out of the Champions League, it’s possible a similar situation could’ve taken place with Arsenal relying on a difficult Premier League run-in for a chance of silverware. However, when it came to the key moment, the Arsenal players kept their cool and kept their club in the competition.
Arsenal have shown this season that they have learned lessons from the last, in the way they play, but the way they handle big games and big moments too. Of course, it is still a realistic proposition for Arsenal to win neither competition but with two months of the season left, Arsenal still have two massive competitions to fight for and nights like this will prove anything is possible.
Martin Odegaard is a captain in every sense of the word
When Alexandre Lacazette left Arsenal in 2022, manager Arteta was tasked with picking his new club captain and many judged it as an odd decision when the Spaniard chose attacking midfielder Odegaard. The Norwegian had only been at the club for 18 months and often came across as a reserved character, not the Tony Adams-type captain who played in the base of the team at centre-back and constantly bellowed at his teammates.
No one is questioning that decision now. In the final minutes of extra time, Odegaard was still leading the press. He had pressed from the very first minute and still encouraged his team to keep going until the final whistle. It had been his wonderful pass that set-up Trossard’s opener, tying up the aggregate score.
When the game went to penalties, it was the captain who stepped up first. His penalty was emphatic, setting Arsenal in the right direction and was followed by the gestures encouraging the fans to make noise, which we see in almost every home game. He then went straight to Raya, pointing at him and uplifting him, before embracing the Arsenal goalkeeper.
When Raya made the final save, who else but Odegaard would be first to celebrate with his goalkeeper.
As most Arsenal players had finished their celebrations on the pitch and were walking down the tunnel, Odegaard was about halfway through his walk around the pitch to clap and fist pump to every section of the Emirates Stadium. A routine he follows every single home match, no matter the result.
Odegaard isn’t the type of captain to berate his teammate on the pitch for making a mistake. He is the type to lift him up and encourage him to go again. The Norwegian leads by example and never stops working. He is every inch, an Arsenal captain and the right man to lead this young Arsenal squad into whatever challenge lies ahead.