Honours even in Lisbon as mix and match Gunners defending too porous

Sporting Lisbon 2 Arsenal 2   
Europa League Round of 16 – 1st Leg   
Thursday 9th March 2023 5.45pm (local time) 

The six changes Mikel Arteta made for this first leg felt about par for the course. Gabriel is rarely rested but was on the bench to give the new signing from Spezia Kiwior his chance. I have no idea how good the young Pole’s English is, but he will certainly need to do better at corners than he did for the opening Sporting goal. Saka always starts, and you must wonder whether he can keep it going without a rest. You’d imagine Tierney would have started this match but for illness, so Zinchenko retained the nominal left back spot. Tomiyasu could have played there, but the manager gave him some involvement from the bench for half an hour of the second half, and thankfully when he did come on the versatility defender had a decent enough performance after a more disappointing one against Bournemouth last weekend.

 

Sporting played with the approach that a win at home would be necessary to progress and a Pedro Goncalves chance after 5 minutes flagged the danger. Sporting beat Spurs 2-0 at home in the Champions League – and whilst Benfica and Porto are the two powerhouses in Portugal, but Sporting are no mugs. Arsenal played here in the autumn of 2018 in the early days of Unai Emery. From that starting eleven, only Holding and Smith Rowe are still at the club, whilst only one of named subs four and a half years ago – Nketiah remains. There’s been a lot of ins and outs in. I think by the time Emery arrived, Hector Bellerin’s injury woes were just about beginning, and it was unfortunately ironic that he was not able to start against his old club in this match. Hopefully we might see him next week at the Emirates to show our appreciation.

 

So it was a good open competitive start to the match with neither side being over-cautious. If ever there was a game for Fabio Vieira to feel at home, this was it – Portuguese opposition, less physical intensity than the Premier League. He was more involved than normal and had one of his best displays for the team so far. Arsenal took the lead halfway through the first half, after a corner taken by Saka was converted by an unchallenged Saliba, although the celebrations were cut short as Zinchenko got involved in a fracas with the opposition as his team-mates were chasing the scorer to the corner flag. 

 

The possession was interesting – Sporting were not playing to give Arsenal more of the ball, although the way the game went they were largely attacking on the counter. They simply struggled to get the ball off their opposition and the possession stats neared two thirds in the visitors’ favour at one point. The feeling of this as a potential procession only lasted until the 34^th minute and an equalizer from a free header direct from a Sporting corner – Kiwior did not even jump at the same time as Turner not punching the ball. Ultimately though it was right in front of the keeper and his to deal with, even if his defenders were trying to get something on it. It was a mystery what the keeper was doing. Kiwior acted as if he got a shout, but it couldn’t have come from his keeper. It was a poor goal to concede, although Turner’s good low save moments later would have helped him feel marginally better. The match had changed by this time, with Sporting a different beast. 

 

It was end to end though – there was nearly a third goal from a corner, this time for Arsenal, as a Xhaka header was foiled on the line. It must be said that Xhaka had an excellent match, and ultimately saved the day later on. 

 

So all square at the interval, although Martinelli so nearly put his team back in the lead after being put through by Zinchenko early in the second half. He was foiled by a great save from the Sporting keeper. Later he made an incredible solo run, took the ball around the keeper but his shot was cleared by a covering defender. It would have been an amazing goal if he’d found the net and it really does feel like the potential long-term competition for a place with Trossard has seen the Brazilian pick up his game. 

 

Sporting though, were able to find the net as they took the lead after 54 minutes though with some decent interplay and running off the ball that presented a tap-in for Paulinho. The home side did not go into defensive mode having gone ahead, perhaps believing they needed more than a one goal lead to take into the return match next week. It didn’t work out, as just after the hour Xhaka shot gets wicked deflection off the Japanese midfielder Morita to make it 2-2– so much space on the pitch.

 

Tomiyasu then entered for Zinchenko and the game concluded with more attacks from both sides, and by the end, probably a fair result. The introduction from the bench of Partey, Gabriel and Smith Rowe did not lead to an away winner. The latter replaced Reiss Nelson, who has less impact as a starter than he did as a sub last weekend, too often running into Sporting defenders. Inconsistency is something that he must address. 

 

In this tie, a bonus for Arsenal is the suspensions Sporting will suffer in the second leg, weakening their chances of qualifying for the last eight. However, let’s not forget Olympiacos in early 2020, the game when not only were Arsenal caught cold, but Mikel Arteta contracted Covid. Nothing can be taken for granted. With away goals now meaningless (which to this observer feels a bit of a shame), Arsenal will need to win (or go through on penalties) to progress to the quarter finals and retain any thoughts about Budapest in late May. The games come thick and fast if they do remain in this competition, so we await to see how Arteta shuffles his pack over the eight days that span their next three matches.

 

One thing that is a concern is that in their last ten matches, Arsenal have kept a clean sheet only twice. And in three of the last five, conceded twice. Yes, they did beat Villa and Bournemouth – injury time goals required in both games. It’s something that needs to improve, and the personnel may have been a mitigating factor in Portugal. Bottom line is that if the attack has an off day, any lack of solidity at the back will surely cost dear.

 

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