Lisbon, April 8 (IANS) Kai Havertz scored late to secure a one-goal advantage for Arsenal as their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie against Sporting CP heads to London next Wednesday.
The second leg of the tie at Emirates Stadium will determine who will go through to the semifinal to face either Atletico Madrid or Barcelona.
The first half had ended goalless, though both sides struck the crossbar early on.
First was Sporting’s Maximiliano Araújo, who raced on to Ousmane Diomande’s excellent pass in the sixth minute but saw his blistering left-footed effort tipped onto the crossbar by David Raya.
Arsenal’s turn to threaten came nine minutes later – Noni Madueke rattling woodwork directly from an inswinging corner before Martin Odegaard shot wide from the rebound.
Chances remained at a premium in the second half until the closing stages when Havertz, less than ten minutes after Geny Catamo had tested Raya with a close-range header, guided in the winner from Gabriel Martinelli's excellent set-up.
The introduction of Max Dowman in the 76th minute also gave cause for Arsenal celebration, the young forward becoming the youngest-ever player to feature in the Champions League quarter-finals at 16 years and 97 days old.
Kai Havertz told Amazon Prime, "To score a late goal is always nice, especially in front of the fans. There's still a lot of work to do next week but we take the result, for sure."
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager, said, "I'm very happy. To win away from home in the quarter-finals of the Champions League against a team that haven't lost for so long at home is so difficult."
Rui Borges, Sporting coach, told UEFA, "It’s frustrating. It’s only natural to feel a bit frustrated after the great game we played here against a top-class side. If you look at the 92 minutes, we had three or four clear-cut chances, whereas they had none apart from the disallowed goal. We just needed to be a bit sharper in front of goal. That’s football; let’s keep our heads up and believe that it’s possible."
--IANS
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