Struggling to score away from home in Europe is certainly no longer a concern for Arsenal after a dominant 5-1 victory in Lisbon.
Gabriel Martinelli scored their first Champions League goal away from the Emirates this season within ten minutes against Sporting CP after neat work down the threatening right side before a second and third duly followed as Mikel Arteta’s side cruised to a 3-0 half-time lead.
Sporting had looked bewildered but hit back early in the second half with a goal as the home crowd got behind their side, but Arsenal took back control through a penalty from Bukayo Saka after Martin Odegaard had been brought down by Ousmane Diomande. The Sporting defender was already on a yellow card and was fortunate to avoid being sent off for the foul.
Leandro Trossard completed the win as Arsenal scored five goals away in the Champions League for the first time in 16 years.
Amy Lawrence, Jordan Campbell and Mark Carey analyse the action.
How important a statement was first-half blitz?
Believing they can be their best self is a big deal for this Arsenal team in the Champions League.
They arrived in Lisbon knowing they had been inhibited in the campaign so far, and started as if determined to make up for it in record time. The intensity of the press, with a front four on the front foot with fire in their boots, was a nightmare for Sporting.
Odegaard bewitched behind the galloping runs of Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Martinelli.
As a blueprint for how to make inroads away from home in Europe, Arsenal could not have been more dominant than that dazzling first half. Their control, focus and efficiency was cranked up. It had supporters wracking their brains for the last time they had seen Arsenal so electric, and so mature, in the Champions League. Maybe the famous 5-1 win at Inter in 2003, or the legendary win at the Bernabeu in 2006. More recently there was a fine 4-2 win at Valencia in 2019, but that was the Europa League.
“You have to make it happen,” said Mikel Arteta in the build-up to the match. “Those steps are what we have to take next.” They now know they can jump up those steps when their game is in tune.
Amy Lawrence
Is Odegaard already back to the top of his game?
Arsenal fans hardly needed reminding of Odegaard’s quality, but the 25-year-old has wasted no time finding his rhythm since he returned from injury.
It is not just the individual skill that Odegaard brings to Mikel Arteta’s side, but it is his ability to unlock Arsenal’s attacking potency on the right flank. Much was made of the attacking triangle of Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Ben White last season, but Jurrien Timber looks more than capable of joining the right-sided trio in White’s absence.
The rotations of that triangle were key in Arsenal’s opener. Odegaard pulled wide and Saka drifted inside, leaving space for Timber to deliver a pinpoint cross for Martinelli to finish at the back post. In truth, Sporting’s five-man defence should not have been pulled apart so easily given their numerical advantage across the back line, but Arsenal’s rotations forced the Portuguese champions into areas they didn’t want to go.
Odegaard’s tendency to consistently pull Sporting midfielder Hidemasa Morita out of position allowed Arsenal to exploit gaps on the right side of the pitch — with a similar pattern occurring for their second goal. Morita’s preoccupancy with Odegaard gave Thomas Partey the time and space to lift the ball over Sporting’s back line for Saka to roll a simple pass for Kai Havertz to finish.
If people thought that Arsenal’s engine had begun to sputter, Odegaard’s return certainly looks to have clicked them back into gear.
Mark Carey
How did Saliba and Gabriel control Gyokeres?
It was the Swedish striker’s celebration we have come so used to seeing. Sadly for Viktor Gyokeres, it was his direct opponent Gabriel Magalhaes who performed it.
After timing his run perfectly to meet Declan Rice’s deep delivery, the Brazilian headed the ball home to make it 3-0 and clasped his hands over his face in front of the Sporting fans in the corner.
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but the copying of Gyokeres’s celebration was likely seen as payback for Pedro Goncalves copying Granit Xhaka’s celebration two seasons ago when the Portuguese side knocked Arsenal out of the last 16 of the Europa League.
Gabriel’s goal capped off a dominant performance in which he shackled Gyokeres, who was the main focus in the lead-up to the game. With Arsenal failing to score in their previous four away games in the competition and the Sporting forward spearheading their 4-1 win over Manchester City earlier this month, there has been discussion about whether he is the type of striker Arsenal could do with.
The only person who refused to talk about his impressive tally of 24 goals in 19 games this week was Arteta but he struggled against Gabriel and William Saliba, the latter of whom was making his 100th appearance for the club.
Gyokeres likes to drift to the left and cut in on his right foot but against Arsenal, he peeled onto Gabriel’s side instead. He did not find much joy, however, as Gabriel repeatedly manhandled him or stepped in front to cut out the pass to his feet.
Sporting did find Gyokeres running into space several times but Gabriel managed those situations calmly and did not dive in. His two clearest sight of goal came in the second half but he skied both shots well over the bar on a night when he did not produce his best.
is best bit of play came late on when he isolated Jakub Kiwior and got down the outside of the Polish defender but, while his left-footed shot beat David Raya, the ball smacked off the upright.
Jordan Campbell
What are Arsenal’s prospects now for the top eight?
Hopes of automatic qualification for the serious stuff, without the need for an extra knock-out round, feel a lot healthier for Arsenal now. They moved into the top eight with this handsome win, although there may be some movement to the table with the Wednesday matches this week. Scoring five goals has done wonders for their goal difference, which might be important as the final table shapes up in the New Year.
Arsenal have three games remaining — Monaco at home next up, and then in January they pick up with Dinamo Zagreb at home and Girona away, two teams who have not pulled up trees in this Champions League group stage.
Is it imperative to finish in the top cluster? No, but it is undeniably favourable. Who knows, maybe Arteta will be able to squeeze in a few days in Dubai if they avoid the extra round. Boosting their performance levels, on top of the standards they have set in the past few days, is a tantalising thought.
Amy Lawrence
What did Mikel Arteta say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Arsenal?
Saturday, November 30: West Ham United (A), Premier League, 5.30pm UK, 12.30pm ET
Recommended reading
- Nicolas Pepe exclusive: ‘Arsenal spent a lot of money on me and I paid the price for it’
- Ethan Nwaneri, Martin Odegaard and plotting the best path for football’s prodigious teenagers
- Conor McGregor verdict should make football think twice about associating with him
- Ben White out for ‘months’ with knee injury: What this means for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta
(Top photo: Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)
