Nightmare stats behind Arsenal’s woeful Porto defeat as flops fail to have shot on target in Champions League shocker

10 months ago 59

ARSENAL broke an unwanted record during their shock defeat to Porto in the Champions League.

The Gunners lost the first leg of their round of 16 clash after a 94th-minute goal from Galeno.

PA
Arsenal failed to muster a shot on target against Porto[/caption]
Getty
Bukayo Saka only had one touch in the Porto box all game[/caption]

It was the first time the North London outfit failed to have a shot on target in the competition since the 3-1 defeat to Barcelona in 2011.

Arsenal‘s goal came in the game through an own goal from Sergio Busquets.

The front three of Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka all struggled against Porto.

Martinelli did not manage a shot during the entire game, while Saka only managed one touch of the ball in the opposition’s box.

The attackers were not helped out by the supporting players, as Kai Havertz only had one header, which went wide.

While defenders William Saliba and Ben White both missed opportunities with their heads.

There are even more stats that make for bad reading for Arsenal’s supporters.

The result was Arsenal’s fifth loss in a Champions League knockout game in a row.

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The club’s last win came back in 2015 when they beat AS Monaco 2-0 in France, only to lose the leg on away goals.

Arsenal also allowed Porto to make some history of their own with the winning goal.

Galeno’s strike was Porto’s latest-ever winning goal scored in the Champions League at 93 minutes and 22 seconds.

Porto had an appalling record against English teams going into the game.

In the Portuguese side’s last ten games against English opposition, they had only won once.

This win came against Chelsea in 2021, and they have lost each of their last six first-leg matches.

Speaking after the game, Arteta admitted that his side “lacked threat” as they are now behind ahead of the second leg.

He said: “We lacked threat, we lacked much more threat, more aggression [was needed] especially when we had the ball in the final third, especially in the back as well, more purpose to help them.

“So we will tweak a few things to attack better, especially because, to be fair, we haven’t conceded [chances] at all, but we can do better.

“Obviously we have to manage much better when you cannot win.

“The way we handled the ball on three occasions in deep areas is not good enough. And then it’s half-time.

“If you want to win the quarter-finals, you have to beat your opponent. And this is what we have to do at the Emirates now.”

"It's not good enough." 😤

Mikel Arteta reacts to Arsenal's late defeat in Porto.

🎙 @julesbreach | #UCL pic.twitter.com/8AYtQbVKJ0

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 21, 2024

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