David Raya’s penalty saves have played a major role in ending Arsenal 14-year wait for a trip to the Champions League quarterfinals. Tuesday at the Emirates Stadium, Raya secured a 4-2 victory in a penalty shootout by tipping one of Porto’s Wendell’s spot kicks against the post and then palming away another from Galeno.
Arsenal won 1-0 to tie the aggregate score at 1-1,
ending a lengthy run of round-of-16 defeats. Prior to this, the team had been eliminated in seven of its previous outings in the competition. Raya, who was signed in the summer to take Aaron Ramsdale’s spot as Arsenal’s first choice—a move that has been heavily contested by the team’s supporters this season—was also having a huge moment.
Raya remarked, “Obviously, it’s a great feeling for me personally—my first Champions League match and the club’s first quarterfinal appearance in so many years.” “This year, we’ve worked really hard on penalties, and the team’s and the goalie coach’s efforts have paid off.” It was the first Champions League penalty shootout since Real Madrid’s victory over Atletico Madrid in the 2016 championship game. In the other match on Tuesday, Barcelona defeated Napoli 3-1 to move 4-2 overall and into the quarterfinals. Leandro Trossard’s goal in the 41st minute pulled Arsenal even after they had trailed 1-0 after Galeno’s late-game victory in the first leg in Portugal.
Despite extra time,
Neither team was able to score any more goals as Porto’s solid defensive strategies kept Arsenal mostly at bay. Under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal lost seven straight round-of-16 matches from 2011 to 2017, the last season the London team participated in the competition. Porto hasn’t advanced past the quarterfinals since winning the championship in 2004 under Jose Mourinho; their most recent appearance came in 2021. Now that Wenger is gone, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has the opportunity to win the biggest prize in Europe. “Very joyful. The fact that it has been 14 years, a significant amount of time for a team like Arsenal, illustrates how challenging it was, Arteta, whose side is currently leading the Premier League, remarked.
“In order to locate the pivotal moment at the end, we had to really dig in.” We were all striving to finish, and collectively we succeeded, and now the stadium is filled with an incredible excitement. In the home leg, Porto had secured the victory with a late long-range goal. And they made every effort to preserve that lead by employing a number of time-wasting strategies in addition to strong defense. However, the home team did have a couple of opportunities in the first half. First, in the 16th minute, after Arsenal gave up the ball. Striker Evan ilson shot just wide from outside the area, and in the 22nd minute. He drew a nice stop from Raya from the middle of the area.
After Martin Odegaard set him up in the box,
Trossard scored with a low effort inside the far post to cap off Arsenal’s relentless pressure. The shot passed through the legs of seasoned defender Pepe. Who is the same age as Arteta and. At 41, the oldest outfield player to participate in a Champions League game. In the second half, Odegaard put the ball in the empty net for Arsenal. Although Kai Havertz was called for a foul on goalkeeper Diogo Costa just before the goal was scored. After entering the game in the 83rd minute. Gabriel Jesus came dangerously close to scoring with a shot. That almost went between Costa’s legs and out for a corner.
Blog By:- ExpertSadar
