Mikel Arteta speaks ...
“Considering you concede two goals away from home and still escape with a draw you have to take some positives,” the Arsenal manager tells BT Sport. “We gave them too much hope by giving the ball away in our own half too many times. We had control for long periods but we lacked a bit of that final touch but we are missing four key attackers so we will take the draw.
“At 2-1 we lose the runner and they had a chance to make it 3-1 a lot of things to improve but we showed a lot of resiliency and we are still in the tie. Making six changes you lose a bit of the cohesion but we had to make the changes because some are unavailable and others had to play out of position but they did well.”
William Saliba speaks: “Today it wasn’t an easy game but we scored the first goal and then they brought it back to 1-1 and then made it 2-1,” the Arsenal goalscorer tells BT Sport. “As always we never give up and we scored the second goal. We have a game back home and we will give everything to win. We conceded two goals and the most important thing is that we didn’t lose and we have another game. It is okay, we wanted to win here but we didn’t lose and we have to focus on the next game and we are lucky to play at home. We will try to win again.”
Match report: Sporting 2-2 Arsenal
Europa League: “This will have made stressful viewing for a manager who values control as much as Mikel Arteta,” writes Nick Ames from Estadio Jose Alvalade. “For neutrals it was fine entertainment, though, and Arsenal can at least reflect they are just about in the box seat for a place in the quarter-finals.”
Full time: Sporting 2-2 Arsenal
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeeep! It’s all over in Lisbon, where Arsenal have been held by their Portuguese hosts. They went ahead through William Saliba, only for Sporting to equalise through Goncalo Inacio. After the break and against the run of second-half play, Sporting went ahead through Paulinho, only for Arsenal to restore parity through a fortuitous own goal from Hidemasa Morita. It’s all square ahead of the second leg at the Emirates and one suspects Sporting will be the happier of the two sides.
90+5 min: Nothing comes from the corner, which is cleared at the near post. And that is that for tonight.
90+4 min: Saka wins Arsenal a corner after receiving the ball from a Ben White throw-in in a very tight area.
90+2 min: Arsenal huff and puff in search of a winner as the game approaches the final couple of minutes of added time. They’ll be happy enough with tonight’s result but one suspects Mikel Arteta would have hoped his side might bring a sizeable lead back to the Emirates for the second leg.
89 min: Sporting substitution: Marcus Edwards, who has been excdellent, makes way for the 19-year-old Issahaku Fatawu.
87 min: Fabio Vieira goes to ground in the Sporting penalty area and claims a penalty but there was no foul by Diomande, who stood his ground as the Arsenal man tried tried to dart past him.
83 min: Emile Smith-Rowe picks out Vieira with his back to goal on the edge of the Sporting penalty area. Diomande doesn’t give him an inch and the Portuguese is unable to turn.
81 min: William Saliba hacks clear, intercepting a cross from the left aimed towards Chermiti.
80 min: Youssef Chermiti, just on as a Sporting sub for Paulinho, curls a shot wide of the upright.
78 min: Following several breaks in play for medical attention and substitutions, Arsenal win a free-kick wide on the right. Emile Smith-Rowe curls the ball into the penalty area, where the ref spots a foul and signals for a Sporting free-kick.
75 min: Sporting substitution: Abdul Issahaku on for Ricardo Esgaio.
73 min: There’s a break in play as Sporting defender Jeremiah St Juste receives treatment for a knee injury.
71 min: Sporting substitution: Nuno Santos on for Trincao.
70 min: Arsenal triple substitution: Thomas Partey, Gabriel Magalhaes and Emile Smith Rowe come on for Jakub Kiwior, Reiss Nelson and Jorginho.
67 min: Arsenal substitution: Takehiro Tomiyasu came on for Oleksandr Zinchenko a few minutes ago.
65 min: Moments before that Arsenal equaliser, Paulinho should have put Sporting 3-1 up. Cleran through on goal with only Matt Turner to beat, he curled his shot wide of the upright when the goal seemed at his mercy. I didn’t have high hopes for this game ahead of kick-off but it’s turned into a cracking contest.
GOAL! Sporting 2-2 Arsenal (Morita 62og)
Arsenal equalise! Morita caps a miserable couple of minutes with an own goal. From outside the Sporting penalty area, Xhaka was trying to send a cross towards Martinelli. The ball struck Morita, who was facing his own goal on the edge of his own penalty area and somehow had the legs to creep in the bottom corner past the hopelessly wrongfooted Adan. That’s so unlucky.
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59 min: Martinelli bursts into the Sporting half with the ball at his feet, riding a tackle from Morita, who had to be careful. Clean through on goal with only Antonio Adan to beat, the Brazilian takes the ball past the advancing goalkeeper but is denied by an incredible saving tackle by the rapidly retreating Jeremiah St Juste. The defender and his teammates celebrate his defending as if they’ve just scored a goal.
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58 min: Hidemasa Morita is booked for a foul on Vieira, a caution which means the Sporting midfielder will miss the return leg along with his captain, Sebastian Coates.
GOAL! Sporting 2-1 Arsenal (Paulinho 55)
Sporting go ahead! It’s a superb goal. On the right side of the penalty area, Edwards plays a low weighted diagonal ball into the path of Goncalves, who burst between two defenders to unleash a shot from close range. Hopelessly exposed, Turner saved superbly but could only parry the ball into the path of Paulinho, who rifles home the rebound from close range.
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52 min: Zinchenko crosses from the left but his delivery is a mite too high for Martinelli, who gets his head to the ball but can’t keep his effort from sailing over the bar.
49 min: Fabio Vieira shoots narrowly wide of the upright with a low effort from distance. Arsenal have come roaring out of the traps in this second half.
48 min: Martinelli darts on to a lovely disguised pass into the SPorting penalty area from Zinchenko. He lifts the ball over the advancing Adan but it bounces wide. Was he offside? I think so.
47 min: Excellent play from Paulinho, who canters down the inside left, ignores options in the form of Trincao and Edwards in the penalty area and elects instead to cut inside and shoot. Matt Turner punches his effort clear and the ball breaks to Hidemasa Morita. His first time effort sails straight into the gloves of Turner.
Second half: Sporting 1-1 Arsenal
46 min: Play resumes with Sporting on the ball and no changes in personnel on either side.
Half-time: Sporting 1-1 Arsenal
Peep: Referee Tobias Stieler brings a reasonably entertaining first half to a close and it’s all square between the two sides. William Saliba headed Arsenal in front and they were bossing the game until Sporting equalised against the run of play with an almost idential goal. Having won a corner when his fearsome drive from distance was tipped around the post for a corner, Goncalo Inacio headed his team level from the resulting set-piece.
45+2 min: There’s a minor panic in the Arsenal penalty area as Matt Turner sells William Saliba short with a pass to the edge of the penalty area. Marcus Edwards nps in to steal the ball away from the Arsenal defender but his first touch sends the ball straight back to Turner. A let-off for Arsenal.
45 min: Arsenal are back in the control of the game and Adnan is forced off his line to deal with a Xhaka cross. He collides with Reiss Nelson and goes down holding his shoulder. Moments later, he’s back on his feet.
41 min: A Fabio Vieira cross from the right is aimed towards Granit Xhaka but headed out for another Arsenal corner. Xhaka gets his head to the inswinger and Adnan just about stops his downward header from creeping over the line. As he rushes to throw the ball downfield, Gabriel Martinelli knocks it out of his hands, prompting a furious outburst from the Sporting goalkeeper. Martinelli gets booked but seems to be insisting that the referee has got the wrong man. I’m pretty sure the Brazilian was bang to rights but he’s arguing so vociferously that he’s planted a seed of doubt in my mind. Remember that if you’re ever on trial and I’m on the jury.
39 min: Their tails up, Sporting advance again. Marcus Edwards cuts inside on his left foot and unleashes a low drive that Turner is once again forced to tip around his upright. Arsenal manage to clear this corner courtesy of a Turner punch.
38 min: Mikel Arteta will be unimpressed to see his team concede in such circumstances. They were in complete control of the game but have let Sporting back into it through some slack defending at a set-piece.
GOAL! Sporting 1-1 Arsenal (Ignacio 35)
Sporting equalise! Having won the corner, Ignacio scores from it and his goal is almost a replica of Saliba’s. The ball was curled to the far post, Matt Turner came for it but hesitated and Ignacio leapt highest to flick as header behind him and inside the far post. Jakub Kiwior could have done better too, mind. He made no effort to jump with Ignacio.
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34 min: From all of 35 yards out, Goncalo Inacio tries his luck with a low pot-shot. It takes a nick off somebody and Matt Turner is forced to dive to his lewft and turn the ball around the post for a corner. And what do you know …
32 min: Marcus Edwards tries to pick out Trincao with a weighted through ball into the Arsenal penalty area. There’s a mite too much welly on his pass and Matt Turner is quick off his line to gather.
28 min: With Arsenal in total control of this game, Bukayo Saka floats a diagonal ball towards the far post. Sporting goalkeeper Adan claims comfortably.
27 min: Oleksandr Zinchenko takes on free-kick duties but blasts his effort into the Sporting defensive wall.
25 min: Trying to bustle his way into the Sporting penalty area, Gabriel Martinelli is blocked by Coates, who has just been booked, and goes to ground. Free-kick for Arsenal in a great position, just outside the Sporting penalty area, a little to the right of the D. Coates avoids a second yellow and looks relieved to do so.
23 min: There was a bit of pushing and shoving between the players of both sides in the aftermath of that goal and Oleksandr Zinchenko and Sebastian Coates have both been booked for their part in it.
GOAL! Sporting 0-1 Arsenal (Saliba 22)
Arsenal lead! William Saliba scores with a towering downward header at the back post from an excellent Vieira corner.
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20 min: Looking every inch the raffish World War II RAF wing commander, Fabio Vieira ships a clip to his ankle and pulls up lame. He’ll live.
17 min: Struggling to get the ball out of their own half, Sporting concede possession again, this time to Reiss Nelson. He plays it backwards to Jakub Kiwior and Arsenal advance again.
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15 min: Bukayo Saka tries to dink the ball from the edge of the Sporting penalty area and it clips the hand of Sebastian Coates on its upwards trajectory. Saka appeals for a penalty or free-kick but none is forthcoming. It would have been exceptionally harsh if the Sporting skipper had been penalised.
13 min: Arsenal pile on the pressure, playing the ball around the fringes of the Sporting penalty area as they try to find an opening. Despite a couple of early scares, they’re taking control of this game.
11 min: Sporting centre-back Goncalo Ignacio sticks in a foot and prods the ball out of play for a corner as Gabriel Martinelli tries to jink his way through the Sporting penalty area. Fabio Vieira takes the corner but nothing comes of it. Throw-in for Sporting, deep in their own half.
8 min: A low Ricardo Esgaio cross from the right is intended for Francisco Trincao but William Saliba cuts it out and clears.
6 min: Pedro Goncalves gets the better of Jorginho, getting in behind the Arsenal defence as he chases a long ball from deep. He cuts inside and tries to curl a shot around Matt Turner and inside the far post but sends his effort well wide.
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5 min: Bukayo Saka plays the ball wide to Reiss Nelson on the left touchline. He quickly sends a cross into the Sporting penalty area, which Martinelli stretches to get his head to. He’s unable to get any control on his header and perhaps could have done with a shout from Fabio Vieira, who was lurking behind him.
2 min: Sporting goalkeeper Antonio Adan takes an early kick-out, picking out Hidemasa Morita out by the right touchline. Sporting advance upfield and Ben White hoofs the ball into touch. There are plenty of empty seats in the stadium but those Sporting fans who are present are creating quite the din.
Sporting v Arsenal is go ...
1 min: Gabriel Martinelli gets the ball rolling for Arsenal, the Brazilian expected to play through the centre tonight. He and his teammates wear their traditional kit of red shirts with white sleeves, white shorts and red socks. Their hosts wear green and white hooped shirts, black shorts and green socks.
Not long now: The teams are out and line up either side of German referee Tobias Stieler and his team of match officials in a stadium that has yet to fill up. It being an early kick-off, it’s no great surprise.
Sporting v Arsenal line-ups
Sporting: Adan, St Juste, Coates, Inacio, Esgaio, Gonclaves, Morita, Reis, Edwards, Paulinho, Trincao.
Subs: Israel, Santos, Neto, Rochinha, Issahaku, Diomande, Tanlongo, Gomes, Cabral, Chermiti, Mateus, Essugo.
Arsenal: Turner, White, Saliba, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Xhaka, Jorginho, Saka, Vieira, Nelson, Martinelli.
Subs: Ramsdale, Hillson, Partey, Gabriel, Smith Rowe, Holding, Tomiyasu, Bandeira, Sagoe, Smith, Walters.
Arsenal team news: Mikel Arteta makes six changes to the side that left it late to stun Bournemouth in added time last weekend. Last weekend’s match-winner Reiss Nelson comes into the side, while January signing Jakub Kiwior makes his first appearance for the club since arriving from Spezia in January. Matt Turner start in goal for Arsenal, while Granit Xhaka, Ben White and Jorginho also come into the team. While Gabriel Jesus has travelled, he isn’t included in the matchday squad.
Este é o nosso 𝐎𝐍𝐙𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 para hoje 🟢⚪️#SCPARS #LineUpSCP #DiaDeSporting pic.twitter.com/APlIp66wBO
— Sporting Clube de Portugal (@Sporting_CP) March 9, 2023
🔴 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 ⚪️
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 9, 2023
🧤Turner between the sticks
🆕 Kiwior makes his debut
🖊️ Martinelli in attack
Let's do this - together! 👊 pic.twitter.com/3caK8GbWbB
Tonight's match officials
Referee: Tobias Stieler
Assistant referees: Christian Gittelmann and Mark Borsch
Fourth official: Robert Schröder
VAR: Bastian Dankert
Early team news
Gooners everywhere were buoyed by the news that Gabriel Jesus has travelled to Portugal but the club have remained coy on the subject of how much, if any involvement the Brazilian will have in tonight’s game. An absentee through injury since returning from the World Cup, Jesus has not played since lining up for his country against Cameroon over three months ago in early December.
One man who definitely won’t be playing is Kieran Tierney, an undeniably good left-back who is becoming an increasingly peripheral figure at Arsenal due in no small part to his habit of getting injured and the excellence of Oleksandr Zinchenko.The Scot was expected to get a run out tonight but didn’t travel because of illness.
Having been forced off against Bournemouth last weekend, Leandro Trossard will not be risked, while Eddie Nketiah is also recovering from a knock. Some or all of Emile Smith-Rowe, Jorginho, Matt Turner, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Reiss Nelson and Fabio Vieria could all start tonight.
Sporting are without their defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte, who is currently being hawked around various Premier League clubs including Wolves, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur. The Uruguayan is suspended after picking up his third booking of the tournament last time out in Sporting’s 4-0 rout of Midtjylland last time out. Mateo Tanlongo is likely to start in his place, with Daniel Braganca a long-term absentee with a ruptured cruciate.
Arsenal fans could get to a enjoy a reunion with a much-loved familiar face if their old friend Hector Bellerin is in the Sporting matchday squad. Tottenham academy graduate Marcus Edwards is expected to line-up for Sporting, while the former Liverpool and Sunderland defender Sebastian Coates is likely to skipper the Portuguese side.
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Europa League R16 first leg: Sporting v Arsenal
The Estadio Jose Alvalade is the venue for tonight’s Europa League Round of 16 first leg between Sporting Clube de Portugal and Arsenal. Having seen Tottenham go out of the Champions League with barely a whimper last night, Arsenal fans will be hoping for even more reasons to be cheerful in the current 24-hour window. Their side takes on Portuguese opposition that finished behind Spurs and Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League group stages before being parachuted into this competition.
Focused on the Premier League but still in the hunt for their first European silverware since 1994, Arsenal could be forgiven for playing a weakened side while keeping one eye firmly on on Sunday’s top flight match away at Fulham, but Mikel Arteta has brought a strong side to Portugal. “If we play well and are able to win the game, for sure we’ll be able to prepare better for the next game,” he said. Kick-off in Lisbon is at 5.45pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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