In a duel valid for the round of 16 of the Europa League, Arsenal drew 2-2 with Sporting in the first leg. Saliba and Morita (against) scored the goals for the English, while Inacio and Paulinho helped the home team maintain equality on the scoreboard this Thursday, at the José Alvalade stadium, in Lisbon.
For the confrontation, coach Mikel Arteta opted to send an alternative team to the field. Turner, Kiwor and Fábio Vieira were starters in place of Ramsdale, Gabriel Magalhães and Odegaard, respectively. The Portuguese went with maximum strength for the game.
The second leg will take place next Thursday (16th), at the Emirates Stadium. Before, Arsenal visit Fulham on Sunday for the Premier League, while Sporting will receive Boavista on the same day, for the Portuguese Championship.
Honours even in the first leg
Back to Emirates Stadium next week 💪 pic.twitter.com/UgXWEv5fua
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 9, 2023
The game
Who started the duel in advantage was Arsenal. In the 22nd minute of the first half, Fábio Vieira took a corner kick and Saliba appeared in the small area to head in and open the scoring.
At 34, Sporting hit the same way. Also from a corner kick, Edwards lifted the ball into the penalty area and Inacio soared above the Arsenal defenders to level the score.
In the second half, both teams had good chances to seek victory. Just after 10 minutes, the home team created a great opportunity with Edwards, who threaded the ball to Pedro Gonçalves in the small area. In finishing, goalkeeper Truner spread the ball at the feet of Paulinho, who completed it for the back of the net.
However, seven minutes later, Arsenal managed to seek the tie in an unfortunate move by Morita. After Xhaka took a risk from outside the area, the ball deflected off the Japanese player and tricked Adán, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance of defense.
Check out the results of the other Europa League games this Thursday:
Union Berlin 3×3 Union Saint-Gilloise
Rome 2×0 Real Sociedad
Bayer Leverkusen 2×0 Ferencváros
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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