Champions League
Arsenal clash with Porto came down to penalty kicks! Raya shines and the Gunners celebrate their progress to the quarter-finals
Arsenal made it through a tense Champions League semi-final rematch, beating Porto 2-1 on aggregate after a penalty shootout at Emirates Stadium. In it, David Raya saved two attempts while the Gunners converted all of them.
Arsenal won a tense Champions League rematch, beating Porto 2-1 on penalties at the Emirates Stadium. David Raya saved two tries, while the Gunners converted all of them.
In the third minute, Ben White had a dangerous header, but just missed the Porto goal. Then Bukayo Saka got into the box, shot between the legs of a defender, but goalkeeper Diogo Costa intervened at the last moment.
From the resulting corner, Martin Odegaard fired towards the near post, but only hit the right side netting. On the other side, David Raya was forced to come out for the first time in the 23rd minute, but his shot from outside the box was cleared out of danger.
After that, the Gunners waited a long time for another chance, Porto levelled the game, but in the 41st minute the individual quality of Odegaard showed. He kept his composure in a small area, elegantly found Leandro Trossard in the whitewash, who just headed towards the back post.
Arsenal took a 1-0 lead into the stands after an even half-time. The start of the second half was better for Porto, they went into it with great vigour. However, they didn’t take their chances and after ten minutes the Gunners started to dominate again.
Francisco Conceição had his first shot in the 64th minute, but missed well from a direct kick. On the other side, Odegaard increased the score to 2:0, but his shot could not stand due to a foul by Kai Havertz that preceded the situation.
The match was decided by penalties, in which Arsenal won
In the 83rd minute, substitute Gabriel Jesus had a great chance, but it was saved by visiting goalkeeper Costa. The Gunners’ pressure increased, but even Saka’s shot was blocked by the Portuguese goalkeeper. Porto fought back and the game went into extra time.
In the first half of extra time, Arsenal had no more danger from positional dominance. And Saka wasted a chance after the change of sides. Porto also missed one chance and went to penalties. Odegaard, Pepe and Havertz converted, but then Wendell failed.
Raya grabbed another penalty from Gallen and the Gunners are through to the quarter-finals. In a match played in parallel, Barcelona beat Napoli 3-1.
Source: Champions League
