Positive spin: Arsenal were victorious on Tuesday, for the first time in three games, after bowing out of two cups in their last two games.
Slightly more balanced angle: The Gunners created next to nothing and sleepwalked their way to a 1-0 victory over Portuguese side Sporting CP in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie, thanks to Kai Havertz’s 91st-minute goal.
SPORTING 0-1 ARSENAL — Video highlights & recap
Prior to the goal, Arsenal had amassed all of 0.16 xG on six shots in 90 minutes.
Below is the latest Mikel Arteta reaction, speaking after his side pulled off a perfect smash-and-grab job in Lisbon.
Mikel Arteta reaction — What did Arsenal boss say after first-leg win in Lisbon?
“Very happy to win away from home in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, against a team that have not lost at home for I don’t know how long. I think the last time was probably in Europe as well, that shows the difficulty of it.”
“When we got into the final third and we sat there, we missed the final bit. We had to be a little bit crisper, faster, more efficient to break them down when they had that block. We had a goal disallowed and there were two or three occasions where we were close, but we lacked that final pass. In the end a magic moment from the finishers win us the game.”
“Beautiful and that’s the impact you need when you get to this stage of the season. Everybody has to make an impact, and they certainly did that tonight.”
Arsenal forward Kai Havertz, on his stoppage-time winner
“To score a late goal is always nice, especially in front of the fans and we take that result. Still a lot of work to do next week, but we take the result for sure.”
“It was quite an open game, but I think mostly we controlled it quite well. Football is made from moments like this. Overall, I think we played a very good game and can be proud of ourselves. Now we recover and go again Saturday.”
“Definitely a big turnaround for us, because we lost the last two matches. So we wanted to get a turnaround today and we made that happened. We stick together as a group, we have so much more to come this season. Seven weeks to go, we can win big titles and we’re going to go for that.”
