A penalty shootout sent Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2010.
The Londoners beat Porto 1-0 in the second leg, leveling the scores, and then neither side managed to score.
In the penalty kicks, the visitors broke through, with Wendell first hitting the post and then David Raya making a save to send his team ahead in the tournament.
For the home side, Leandro Trossar again replaced Martinelli and David Raya returned in goal, the only change from the win over Brentford at the weekend. The visitors started with the same 11 that beat Arsenal 1:0 in the first match.
The first situation was in the 4th minute when Trosar crossed and White headed it over the goal. The Portuguese, in typical style, did not miss an opportunity to slow down the game, which quickly began to infuriate the Londoners.
In the 13th minute, Saka created a chance by cutting in from the right and firing low, Diogo Costa saving. Shortly after, Jodegor was in a clear position, but just before he could shoot, Pepe intervened in a great way and headed home for a corner.
Jodegaard’s miscue followed before Evanilsson also failed to find the target for the visitors. In the 23rd minute, the Brazilian striker again appeared on the scene, who was left uncovered in the penalty area and shot, but Raya saved and it was a very important intervention. However, the visitors were not at all to be underestimated, although Arsenal were more active.
In the 29th minute, Pepe deflected a small, but sufficient, cross from White to put Havertz ahead decisively. The guests continued to gain time at every opportunity.
In the 41st minute, however, Emirates exploded. Jodegaard dealt brilliantly with two opponents and set up Trossard, who showed his composure and fired a low shot into the far corner – 1-0 to Arsenal. Thus, at the break, the home team had already erased their deficit.
The second half started with a little more caution from Arsenal, who already had the lead and did not attack as aggressively, although they tried to keep Porto under pressure. However, the Portuguese fought calmly.
In the 67th minute, Arsenal did score again, but the goal was disallowed for a rather controversial hold on Havertz on Pepe, although the German did nudge his opponent slightly for the team. In any case, the defender went down very easily and therefore the referee Clement Turpin took a lot of insults from the fans, and Arteta also received a yellow card for his protests, but the score remained 1:0.
The Portuguese had clearly decided to play the long game, and Gabriel Jesus appeared for the hosts and almost immediately he could have become a hero. He managed to get to one ball and shot, but Costa cleared with his foot and it meant there would be extra time.
In the first overtime, nothing special happened, and in the second, Arsenal’s efforts did not bring anything, and so they reached the result that the guests wanted – penalties.
Before them, Yodegor chose to perform at the goal behind which the team’s fans are, then the kicks started, with the home team hitting first and Yodegor scoring.
The guests also converted, and after Havertz also scored, Wendel shot the bar and gave the home team the advantage. Saka and Rice kept calm, with Grujic signing between them, after which, however, Raya saved Galeno’s shot to send his teammates and the team’s fans into ecstasy, writes gol.bg.
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