Forget Declan Rice, Arsenal’s loan star was absolutely brilliant against Sporting Lisbon

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Arsenal are into the semi-finals of the Champions League after another solid home performance was enough to see off Sporting Lisbon.

Mikel Arteta’s side didn’t create too much but they backed themselves defensively and were once again rewarded.

The likes of William Saliba and Gabriel were rocks, in the middle, while Declan Rice showed just why he passed a late fitness test to play by being one of the star men on the night.

However, while Rice is likely to win the plaudits from a lot of supporters, the performance of on-loan defender Piero Hincapie was also one to admire.

Piero Hincapie shows his importance to Arsenal with brilliant Sporting Lisbon display

Arsenal need all their senior players back and fit for this crucial stage of the season and seeing Hincapie back at left-back and back to his roaming self was great to see.

Hincapie brings a solidity to the defence when he plays. Much like Riccardo Calafiori, he has the instincts of a central defender but also knows when to bomb forward and create those crucial overloads.

It’s a no-brainer for Arsenal to go and sign Hincapie this summer and turn his loan deal into a permanent one and on tonight’s display, he might be first-choice left-back for next season.

Hincapie was impressive in halting the dangerous wide players of Sporting. The Portuguese side have a rich history of fast, tricky wingers but Hincapie found no issue in keeping the likes of Trincao, Goncalves and Catamo quiet.

Impressively, Hincapie made a team high six successful tackles on the night, made two crucial interceptions and completed a vital block as well late on.

With the ball, he was also a threat, completing just under 80% of his passes while adding three crosses throughout the 90 minutes.

For now, Hincapie is the man with the shirt at left-back and Mikel Arteta will be hoping his man stays fit.

With 59 total touches as well, he was also more involved in the game than both Ebere Eze and Noni Madueke, a sign of just how influential he was.

Hincapie, then, can be more than proud of his performance.