Arsenal returned to winning ways in the Champions League with a stunning win over Sporting CP.
The game in Lisbon was expected to be a very difficult one for the Gunners. Sporting hadn’t lost at home for 18 months – even clubs like Manchester City were humiliated there.
Mikel Arteta had to bring an end to Arsenal’s woes away from home in Europe, and his tactics on Tuesday night were absolutely spot on.
Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Magalhaes, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard scored to help the North Londoners pick up an emphatic 5-1 win against Sporting.
Arsenal equal 21-year club record with 5-1 win over Sporting CP
Arsenal were on another level against Sporting on Tuesday night.
The likes of Martin Odegaard and Saka were toying with the hosts’ defenders, and the Gunners had all the time in the world to do what they did.
The atmosphere at the Estadio Jose Alvalade is usually rocking, but it was the Arsenal fans in the away end who were making all the noise.
Arsenal’s 5-1 win against Sporting is their biggest away win in the Champions League in 21 years – the last time this happened was all the way back in 2003.
Arsene Wenger’s side smashed five past Inter Milan in that game – Thierry Henry scored twice while Freddie Ljungberg, Edu Gaspar and Robert Pires all found the net too in that game.
The win in Lisbon is Arteta’s biggest victory in the Champions League too, and it is one he should be very proud of.
Arsenal showed their dominance from start to finish, and we hope this brings an end to the terrible run they were on away from home in Europe.
READ MORE: Kai Havertz reached one major milestone during Arsenal vs Sporting, it’s incredible
Arsenal’s next three games in the Champions League are all winnable
Arsenal have had some really difficult fixtures in the Champions League this season.
The Gunners have had to face Atalanta, Inter Milan and Sporting Lisbon away from home, while Paris Saint-Germain and Shakhtar Donetsk have visited the Emirates.
Arsenal have won three, drawn one and lost one of the above five fixtures, which is not bad at all. They are currently seventh in the table and have a strong chance of finishing in the automatic qualification places.
That’s because Arsenal’s final three games in the competition are against Monaco and Dinamo Zagreb at the Emirates followed by an away trip to Girona on the final day.
All three of those games are winnable. If the Gunners get maximum points from those fixtures, they will surely be through to the knockout stages.
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