‘I’m very disappointed in them’: Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta feel like crying yesterday after being let down by FOUR players he trusted most in the squad in Sporting Lisbon elimination
Arsenal saw their hopes of Europa League glory ended by Sporting Lisbon on Thursday night. Mikel Arteta’s side had entered the showdown hoping to book their place in the quarter-finals of the competition and keep their hopes of a double alive. However, that didn’t happen with Ruben Armorim’s side claiming a shock result at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal went ahead against Sporting through Granit Xhaka, with the Switzerland international firing home in the 19th minute.
However, the tide then turned.
Sporting levelled through a stunning strike from Pedro Goncalves, with the Wolves flop spotting Aaron Ramsdale off his line and lifting the ball over his head.
And Gabriel Martinelli then fluffed his lines in the penalty shootout to spark huge celebrations among the away fans
Express Sport now takes a look at four players who weren’t good enough during the loss.
Fabio Vieira
Fabio Vieira appeared to shine during the early ages of the contest, relishing the boos he received from the travelling Sporting fans.
However, his influence on the game reduced drastically before he was replaced by Martin Odegaard in the 101st minute.
Vieira has talent but lacks consistency and that’s a big problem for a team who are dreaming of winning the biggest titles in the game.
It was no coincidence that Arsenal improved following the introduction of Odegaard, who has arguably been their best player this season.
And Vieira will have to do better than this in order to ensure he nails down a regular starting spot in the future.
Aaron Ramsdale
Aaron Ramsdale has barely put a foot wrong for Arsenal this season.
But while e usually plays high up the field for a goalkeeper, this time that decision failed to pay off.
Ramsdale should have reacted quicker to Gonclaves’ sensational lob. Instead, he lacked speed and decisiveness in deciding to race back and prevent it from falling into the net.
Sure, he did somewhat redeem himself towards the end of the match – making an impressive save to force extra-time.
Yet he also failed to save a single Sporting penalty and he should have done better with two of the efforts in the shootout.
Leandro Trossard
Another player who has been pretty much flawless in an Arsenal shirt this season is Leandro Trossard.
The Belgium international moved from Brighton back in the January transfer window, arriving as an alternative to Mykhaylo Mudryk.
And he’s impressed in the short time since, managing six goal involvements from 10 appearances.
Trossard did, however, squander a glorious one-on-one chance towards the end of the match that would have prevented the pressure of a shootout.
The best players take those chances, and he’ll no doubt he haunted by that late miss.
Gabriel Martinelli
It would be crucial to truly stick the knife into Martinelli.
He doesn’t deserve it. The Arsenal star was a constant threat during the game and having the courage to step up in the shootout deserves credit.
That said, he was still the player whose intervention ensured his side’s wait for a European trophy will go on.
Fortunately, he won’t have too long to make amends with Arsenal due to lock horns with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
And we’re expecting him to immediately bounce back and produce yet another dazzling display on the left of Arteta’s attack.
