Arsenal won big in the Champions League on matchday five, thrashing Sporting CP away from home.
Mikel Arteta applauded his players against Sporting as the Gunners ended their poor luck on the road in Europe.
Arsenal’s 350-day goal drought in the Champions League was ended by Gabriel Martinelli who opened the scoring in Lisbon.
The Brazilian’s goal was added to by Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard as the North Londoners coasted to a 5-1 win.
Leon Osman loved Arsenal’s victory over Sporting CP
It would be difficult to choose a man of the match from Arsenal’s win however, fans applauded Martin Odegaard’s performance as one of the best.
The skipper was sublime on Tuesday night, joining many of his teammates as being top performers in Lisbon.
As a whole, there were very few complaints about the display despite Arteta not being entirely satisfied with Arsenal against Sporting.
After the game, Premier League icon Leon Osman waxed lyrical about how the Gunners conducted themselves at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
“I was asked at the start of the season whether Arsenal were capable of winning the Champions League and I said yes,” Osman said on the Football Daily podcast.
“I think they needed to have a performance like this, they need to be positive away from home because we know they can be defensively sound and stubborn.
“They can nullify oppositions but can they really take a game to somebody the way we’ve seen Manchester City and Real Madrid do at times?
“They did that against a team that has been undefeated here for 13 months. They dominated in every aspect.”
Osman did not wish to retract his thoughts that Arsenal could win the Champions League this season, detailing why he was so blown away with Arteta’s side on week five.
Arsenal replicating Real Madrid and Manchester City Champions League success
The Everton hero identified three clear reasons why Arsenal can be regarded as one of the favourites to win the tournament in 2025.
Dubbing the Gunners as ‘defensively sound’ and a team able to ‘nullify opposition’ were two reasons we already knew ahead of the Sporting thrashing.
What Osman noticed Arsenal did against the Portuguese champions was take the game to Sporting, just as the likes of recent champions Real Madrid and Manchester City do.
The former Premier League star’s analysis was hopeful given how dreary both the Galacticos and City have been so far in the tournament, paving the way for a new hero to make the headlines.
Arsenal are certainly capable of going all the way but only if displays such as the one against Sporting can be replicated throughout the remainder of the tournament.
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