Arsenal came away from Portugal with honours even on Thursday night despite a performance that was in parts frenetic and annoyingly error-laden.
Though Mikel Arteta’s men controlled possession and territory for long periods, they failed to make their opportunities truly count while offering up far too many chances for their hosts – and good ones at that.
In some sense, they will be frustrated they were unable to make their dominance pay but there will also be relief that they have come away from a tricky midweek trip overseas largely unscathed. It’s always preferable to have the tie wrapped up by the end of the first leg but better still not to give it away with a lot of football still to play.
They will fancy their chances of finishing the job in a week’s time when the Portuguese side make the trip to north London but, if naught else, the first leg showed that Sporting are no fools. At our best, they will struggle to keep pace with us but, if you offer them routes back into a game, we have seen that they can take them. A cautionary tale.
There were a number of changes from the Arsenal side that sealed a dramatic 3-2 win over Bournemouth deep into injury time on Saturday, with Jakub Kiwior coming in for his debut and Jorginho, Fabio Vieira and Matt Turner called into the starting line-up.
In the absence of Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah – Gabriel Martinelli was tasked with playing as the false nine (he later swapped with Fabio Vieira), while Jorginho and Xhaka held the centre of midfield.
For large parts of the first half, Sporting were simply unable to cope with the Gunners and Saliba’s opener from a corner promised to open the floodgates for the visitors. However, despite their control, the rustiness of some of those unused to starting was evident and, as the passes starting to go astray, the pressure started to build. The hosts pulled level in the 34th minute as confusion between Kiwior and Turner allowed Goncalo Inacio to nod home the equaliser unmarked.
The Gunners picked up the pace again after the break but, as they did when on top in the first half, spurned a series of good opportunities. When you don’t get out of sight, you give your opponent hope, and so it was as the game then settled into a quite bizarre sequence in which every attack promised a goal.
There was a sort of crazy freneticism about the match that saw both sides abandon shape and defensive discipline in favour of throwing large numbers forward. Arsenal conceded a second and, some seven minutes later, so did Sporting.
When that failed to put a stop to the madness, Arteta acted and brought on Thomas Partey, Gabriel, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Emile Smith Rowe in short order. It was, ostensibly, an effort to restore some control to the match and it turned out to be a good call.
In the 10 minutes or so after Arsenal equalised, the match settled down and the Gunners picked up the sort of patterns we had seen for much of the opening half. They pressed, they probed and they searched for openings but there was much greater care in possession.
By the end, the Gunners had managed 14 shots, seven of which were on target. It was a fair return on investment but there’s no doubting it could have been better. There is always going to be a dip in performance or at least cohesion when you make a number of changes to a squad and that was much in evidence across the course of the game.
The intention and shape was similar but the consistency of application was off. A few too many errors that players with a few more minutes might not have made.
If we’re looking for positives, however, we can have a real go at Sporting at the Emirates and take advantage of the comforts of home. Sporting will be without two key players after yellow cards were dished out and the Portuguese also have a lousy record in England.
There were also some much-needed minutes for Turner, Vieira, Kiwior, and Emile Smith Rowe – all of whom will need to contribute if we’re to remain competitive in both Premier League and Europa League this season.
Attentions will now turn to Fulham on Sunday and the unique challenge posed by the lively west Londoners. With Manchester City playing before us, the pressure may well be on us to respond. Until then!
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