Yesterday’s game was a nervy affair from the start to the final penalty kick from Galeno. The first leg at Estadio do Dragao was scrappy at best, with FC Porto stifling Arsenal’s attacking impetus and all it took was a mistake at the death for the Portuguese side to gain the advantage going into the second leg. As annoying as it was, Galeno’s curler was a beaut.
Arsenal knew that they needed to get some measure of control in the second leg and things were going to be tetchy, but from start to finish, FC Porto unleashed the dark arts, wasting time with reckless abandon and threading more back passes to the goalkeeper than tattoos on Raul Meireles’ body. The amount of passes between Pepe, Diogo Costa and Otavio was downright annoying and it was a plan that worked to perfection for the visitors.
There were some anxious moments with FC Porto hitting Arsenal on the break on several occasions, and David Raya had to come to the fore with some well taken saves. The home side had it all to do and boy, did they put the work. Every player in the team gave 110 percent and this was epitomized by Martin Odegaard that harried and chased down the opposition defenders to great effect. It was Odegaard that was instrumental in the only goal of the night, making mince meat of his marker before sliding a delicious pass to Leandro Trossard that controlled the ball tidily before placing it past Costa.
Odegaard thought he had scored the second goal of the night but the goal was chalked off as Kai Havertz was adjudged to have fouled Pepe that made a hash of the over the top ball.
The onslaught continued as Arsenal huffed and puffed but the Porto little pigs lived in a house made of bricks and when 120 minutes wasn’t enough to separate both teams, we went to the lottery of the penalty shootouts with Arsenal starting the spot kicks.
Captain Odegaard stepped up. Banger. Lil Pepe came through and was overwhelmed by them boos, but he sent Raya to the cleaners. Arsenal’s most in-form player, Havertz, stepped up next and sent the goalie the wrong way. Wendell stepped up but Raya was on hand to tip the ball to the post before the ball crept out. Star boy Saka was next and despite having a torrid game, he smashed his penalty with aplomb. Marko Grujic fired his penalty and Raya dived the right way but it went past him. Up next, Declan Rice, 4-2! Galeno knew that he had to score to keep FC Porto in the game but Raya made a monster save to send his team to the quarterfinals.
The elation was palpable and there was some relief as Arsenal banned the ghosts of Europa League past. A year ago, the Gunners were in a similar position against Portuguese opposition and they crashed out on penalties.
This win sends a message to the opposition reminding them how Arsenal can adapt on certain situations and still churn out the required results. I’m really proud of the players and Raya deserves every plaudits he gets for his exemplary performance.
Sayonara