3 weeks ago
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RAMPANT Arsenal handed Sporting Lisbon a Champions League humbling – and even taunted their star striker Viktor Gyokeres by nicking his celebration.
The Gunners produced one of their best European away-day displays in recent memory with three goals inside 45 minutes out in Lisbon via Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Gabriel.
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RexWith Sporting on their knees, Brazilian defender Gabriel scored the third with a header on the brink of half-time before pulling out Gyokeres’ trademark ‘mask’ routine.
The audacity.
It is a sign of the confidence and the swagger running back through this Arsenal team, back at full-strength with injuries behind them, producing a performance that should make their rivals in this competition take note.
Even when Sporting rallied with Goncalo Inacio’s 47th-minute header, Mikel Arteta’s men were ruthless in their response through Bukayo Saka’s 65th-minute penalty and Leandro Trossard’s late addition.
Gyokeres – a man who has been scouted by the North Londoners on numerous occasions – came into this contest as one of the continent’s most feared goal-getters – 24 in 17 so far this term for Sporting.
Three of them came in a 4-1 battering of Manchester City under manager Ruben Amorim – now at Manchester United – at the Estadio Jose Alvalade earlier this month.
But the 26-year-old comes away from this one with more questions than answers by his name.
Up against centre-back duo William Saliba and Gabriel, it really was men against boys at times.
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The Sporting fans showed off their impressive singing voices well into the opening minute of the match with their translated rendition of Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’.
But those dulcet tones soon turned to jeers as Arsenal did things their way, piling on some early pressure and getting under the skins of the Sporting players.
After a needless altercation that floored Havertz before a throw-in, Ousmane Diomande picked up a fourth-minute yellow card.
And three minutes later, from another throw-in, the opener.
It was a brilliantly intricate move, one that involved Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber – the latter squaring it for Martinelli and the easiest of tap-ins.
Arteta punched the air. The perfect start he craved from his team, one that had previously gone four European away days without finding the net.
Sporting mounted a response, but big Swede Gyokeres was being marked superbly by the meat and two veg pairing of Saliba and Gabriel.
He may be one of the most prolific marksmen on the continent right now, but in testing himself against a world-class defensive duo, Gyokeres was coming up severely short.
Out-tought, out-muscled, dominated.
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He spent most of the first half skulking around like a stroppy youngster who had just had his ball nicked off him by the bigger boys.
His mood worsened thanks to some more elegant Arsenal intricacy.
Partey lofted a chipped pass over the Sporting back line for Saka to latch on to, poking through the legs of goalkeeper Franco Israel.
Another empty-net finish, this time for Havertz, leaving Sporting stunned.
A team who had won 17 of their opening 19 games in all competitions this term were being ripped to shreds.
The Sporting fans then decided to use up the leftovers from Bonfire Night from the stands to give everyone within a five-mile radius the shock of a lifetime.
It did little to wake up their beloved Sporting, however. A banner also emerged that read: “The Lion’s heart.”
This performance had very little of that. The visitors were the ones roaring.
And the hosts had little to no answers for the onslaught Arsenal were consistently conjuring.
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GettyHeading into the break, Arteta would have wanted another goal to show for their complete and utter control. He soon got it.
Rice took his time in whipping in the corner, to the disgust of the whistling home end, but when he did, it was only ever destined for the head of Gabriel.
When done right, that sort of routine is unstoppable, but Sporting’s marking was non-existent.
Inside 45 minutes, Arsenal had doubled their Champions League campaign tally – while Gyokeres’ chances of adding to his five already in this competition looked bleak.
After Gabriel cheekily used the Swedish international’s linked-finger celebration and the half-time whistle went, Gyokeres angrily launched the ball from his own half into an empty net.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Sporting scored for real.
David Raya was forced into his first meaningful save from a Hidemasa Morita strike, yet he was helpless to stop Inacio from flicking on from the resulting corner.
Sporting fans cranked up the volume, only to watch Arsenal turn it back on with Diomande cutting down Odegaard in the box, getting Saka on the scoresheet from 12 yards.
Two subs combined for the fifth – Mikel Merino’s punt parried on to the head of Trossard.
Five games and three wins down in this new format. Arsenal are rediscovering their form at just the right time.
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