Sporting CP had a terrible day in the office against Arsenal in the Champions League.
The Portuguese giants are the best team in their country. They are incredible, especially at home, but Mikel Arteta’s men made them look very average.
Arsenal scored five past Sporting thanks to goals from Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Magalhaes, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard.
It was a humiliating day for the home side, who were far from happy with one thing Arsenal kept doing throughout the game.
What Sporting CP captain Morten Hjulmand complained to the referee about Arsenal
It took Arsenal just seven minutes to take the lead against Sporting in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Havertz doubled that lead 15 minutes later and at that point, Arsenal knew they had the result in the bag as long as they didn’t capitulate.
The home crowd were already agitated, as were the Sporting players. They weren’t happy with the way the game was going and everything Arsenal did seemed to annoy them.
One thing that really angered Sporting players was how long the visitors were taking to restart the game. There were loud whistles from the fans in the crowd as well.
Early in the second half, David Raya even got booked for taking a bit too long with his goal kick. The Spaniard was furious with the decision.
Sporting skipper Morten Hjulmand was constantly in the official’s ear when Arsenal took some time, and he has now revealed what he complained to referee Szymon Marciniak.
“I told [the referee] that there were times when the opponent wasted a lot of time when the ball was not in play,” he told O Jogo.
“That’s what I told him, that we wanted to play football and not always stand still.”
READ MORE: Why Granit Xhaka was once furious with Sporting star Morten Hjulmand
Sporting CP’s captain has a special connection to Arsenal
No player likes to lose a game, especially not 5-1, and Hjulmand is no different.
The Dane was really disappointed with his side’s performance after the defeat, and he wasn’t too happy with Arsenal slowing the game down either.
However, what people may not know is that Hjulmand grew up as a big Arsenal fan and even has a tattoo of the club’s badge.
The Sporting skipper idolised Patrick Vieira in his younger days and fell in love with the Gunners because his dad was a fan of the club.
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