Sporting Lisbon 1-5 Arsenal: Mikel Arteta’s aspect get again to successful methods in Europe as hosts fall to heavy defeat in first Champions League match with out Ruben Amorim
You wouldn’t have known, as Mikel Arteta stood scowling with his hands clasped behind his back, but this was everything he wanted.
Plenty of goals? Check. Confidence restored? Check again. A performance to make rivals cast an anxious glance and wonder whether a beast is stirring? Yep, that too. Arteta may have looked at times like he’d lost a pound and found a penny but this was a night to savour.
This, simply, was the finest European night of his five-year reign, five goals thrashed past Sporting Lisbon, who had been blemish free this season. The scoreline matched the one achieved at the San Siro against Inter Milan in September 2003 and, with luck, could have even been more.
Being able to pick your best team clearly helps. Arteta would have felt hugely reassured as he watched his line-up march down the tunnel, the first time this season he has been able to includes all his totems, not least Magical Martin wearing No 8.
Sporting’s fans were singing a variation of ‘My Way’ as the game began but it was evident from the first few touches that the contest was going to be played the Odegaard Way, Arsenal‘s captain getting on the ball and seeing it all.
One pass in the fifth minute to Bukayo Saka left you thinking of Ronnie Sullivan extricating himself from a snooker at The Crucible, the ball slicing and spinning around obstacles before nestling safely at its intended target. He’s outstanding, arguably the finest midfielder in Europe.
Arsenal put in a show as they returned to winning ways in the Champions League on Tuesday
Five different players were on the scoresheet as the Gunners stormed to a 5-1 win in Portugal
Sporting Lisbon were on the receiving end as Mikel Arteta’s side begin to hit their stride
When a team has someone with that swagger and confidence, it transmits like wildfire. As it spread, there wasn’t a moment’s doubt that Arsenal would win. They were bigger, more skilful and faster than their opponents and, crucially, they were hungry.
No Arsenal player had scored away from home in Europe since Eddie Nketiah’s goal in a 1-1 draw against PSV Eindhoven last December – they hadn’t won since beating Sevilla 13 months ago – but how spectacularly this particular dam burst.
A fluent move down the right ended with Jurrien Timber fizzing a ball across the six-yard box that caused all manner of issues for Sporting’s defence, goalkeeper Franco Israel being spooked by Kai Havertz’s presence, and waiting at the back to pounce was Gabriel Martinelli.
His task of tapping in was simple but the relief was enormous, as he ran away arms aloft. On the sidelines, Arteta grabbed tight hold of his staff and looked like a weight hand been lifted off his shoulders. He had asked for Arsenal to be ruthless and this is what they were going to be.
With Viktor Gyokeres anonymous, shackled by William Saliba and Gabriel, Arsenal went about their business. You wondered looking at Sporting how they had steamrollered Manchester City earlier this month but perhaps the best prism to view things through was the fact Arsenal were electric.
One soon became two. The avenue Arsenal were intent on exploring was their right wing and Thomas Partey, deployed centrally where he has most influence, clipped a fine pass out to Saka in the 20th minute which the England international immediately squared to Havertz.
Another tap in, this one giving Havertz the 100th club goal of his career. Sporting, clearly, are a progressive side and will be fine in their post-Ruben Amorim life but they couldn’t lay on glove on Arsenal and all you wondered was if matters could be wrapped up before the interval.
The answer arrived in added time when Declan Rice bent in a corner and Gabriel powered through a crowd of players to thump in a header that immediately muffled the shrill of 40,000 Portuguese whistles. How the silence felt golden.
Martin Odegaard is perhaps the best midfielder in Europe right now and shone again for Arsenal on Tuesday
Bukayo Saka scored from the penalty spot as Arsenal moved into the top eight of the table
Viktor Gyokeres was powerless to stop the Gunners in Sporting’s first game in Europe without Ruben Amorim
Leandro Trossard (left) and Kei Havertz (centre) were both on the scoresheet for the away team
Such was the level of dominance, questions were asked at half-time about whether Arteta even had the luxury of making wholesale changes through the second period to save legs for Saturday’s rumble in East London with West Ham, where Premier League aspirations must be restored.
What happened at the restart was a priceless lesson in why it is always ridiculous to look too far ahead in this sport. Sporting began the second half with a mania that had been absent in the first, pressing and pushing and whipping the locals up into a frenzy.
Could three goals be pulled back? They thought so. A shot in the opening minute from Hidemasa Morita had David Raya scrambling to push it wide but the danger had not been averted; from the resultant corner, Goncalo Inacio cracked a drive beyond the Spaniard. Game on.
Back on the touchline, Arteta had that look – face blank, mouth open, every shortcoming from his side greeted like a personal affront – and Sporting had the edge. Gyokeres suddenly morphed into the striker who will be commanding a king’s ransom next summer, waging war at every turn.
Chances came and went in a spell in which Arsenal tried to do what all boxers do in a title fight, gripping and holding to stop the blows coming in. Inacio had a swing, so did Gyokeres and Marcus Edwards but none of them made the connection to cause a tailspin.
How Arteta needed his team to land a counterpunch of their own and, thrillingly, they managed it in the 64th minute. Odegaard had moved forward but his path to goal was crudely ended by Ousmane Diomande, the defender fortunate to be on the pitch after receiving a fifth minute booking.
Szymon Marciniak, the Polish referee, pointed to the spot and Saka did the rest. The gloss was applied in the 82nd minute, when substitute Leandro Trossard headed home from close range. In the city of seven hills, Arsenal had scaled an important peak. They look ready to climb some more.
