LISBON, PORTUGAL - MARCH 9: (L-R) Goncalo Inacio of Sporting Clube de Portugal, Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal during the UEFA Europa League match between Sporting CP v Arsenal at the Estadio Jose Alvalade on March 9, 2023 in Lisbon Portugal (Photo by Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Sporting CP 2-2 Arsenal: 3 talking points as Gunners stutter in Lisbon
by Adam Schultz
Arsenal secured a 2-2 draw against Sporting CP in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 clash that leaves it all to play for in the return leg.
As expected, Mikel Arteta made several changes from the side that came back to defeat Bournemouth as Matt Turner, Ben White, Jorginho, Jakub Kiwior (debut for the club), and Reiss Nelson all came into the starting XI.
It took Arsenal 20 minutes to take the lead. William Saliba met a whipped-in corner from Fabio Vieira and headed home to put the Gunners in front. Sporting grabbed their equaliser from a corner kick just 15 minutes later as Goncalo Inacio rose unmarked to head home.
The first half faded out as both sides seemed content going in level.
https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1633915905280286725?s=20
Arsenal started the brighter of the two sides in the second half, but it was the hosts who took the lead. After some intricate work, Turner was forced into a save, but the rebound found Paulinho, who tapped home from close range.
Arsenal found themselves level in an odd way. Granit Xhaka was looking to find Gabriel Martinelli but Hidemasa Morita got in the way, and the ball found its way past the keeper and into the net.
Neither side could find a winner, and the 2-2 draw means it is all to play for at the Emirates in the return leg.
Sporting CP 2-2 Arsenal: 3 talking points as Gunners stutter in Lisbon
The game provided plenty of talking points, here they are.
1. Fabio Vieira shows out
The Portuguese midfielder produced one of his finer games in an Arsenal shirt. He grabbed an assist for the Gunners’ opener and constantly pulled the strings in the midfield.
The midfielder did his chances of more starts under Mikel Arteta no harm and looks like he is slowly coming to grips with the Arsenal system and is beginning to flourish.
Fabio Vieira often gets criticised and yet he has two goals and six assists in only 13 starts for The Arsenal. Get behind him Gooners 🔴⚪ pic.twitter.com/0wIVW2W6rX
— Gunners (@Gunnersc0m) March 9, 2023
Not the finished product by any means, but it was undoubtedly a positive evening for Vieira.
Continued on the next slide…
pic.twitter.com/0wIVW2W6rX
<p>— Gunners (@Gunnersc0m) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-3-talking-points/"https://twitter.com/Gunnersc0m/status/1633893368357945347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>March 9, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-3-talking-points/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div>
<p>Not the finished product by any means, but it was undoubtedly a <a title="Sporting CP 2-2 Arsenal: Player ratings from entertaining first leg in Lisbon" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-3-talking-points/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-player-ratings/" rel="">positive evening for Vieira</a>.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-3-talking-points/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Talking Point #2 </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_132846" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" class="wp-image-132846 size-full" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-3-talking-points/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1247948223.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1247948223.jpeg 1600w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1247948223-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Arsenal’s defence left plenty to be desired on Thursday evening. (Photo by FILIPE AMORIM/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>2. Is the defence becoming a concern?</h2>
<p>It now marks back-to-back games that Arsenal have conceded two goals. Against Bournemouth, the Gunners were found wanting from the kick-off and at a set piece.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Arsenal have kept just two clean sheets in their last 10 games in all competitions.</p>
<p>— Orbinho (@Orbinho) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-3-talking-points/"https://twitter.com/Orbinho/status/1633911231705653252?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>March 9, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-3-talking-points/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div>
<p>Now, against Sporting, set pieces again proved difficult to deal with for Arteta’s side. This may simply just be a lull, but the way in which the Gunners are defending isn’t what fans want to see at this time of the year.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-3-talking-points/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Talking Point #3 </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_132848" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-132848 size-full" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-3-talking-points/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1247948235.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1247948235.jpeg 1600w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1247948235-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">The Gunners have a little bit of work to do next week. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>3. All to play for in the return leg</h2>
<p>The 2-2 draw leaves the tie delicately placed for both Arsenal and Sporting. Since the second lag is at the Emirates, Arsenal will feel confident of getting a positive result that would mean progression into the next round.</p>
<div class="embed ">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="7IEdZY2eXn"><p><a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-3-talking-points/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/03/09/sporting-cp-2-2-arsenal-player-ratings/">Sporting CP 2-2 Arsenal: Player ratings from entertaining first leg in Lisbon</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>The performance was somewhat disjointed from the Gunners, and they can’t really argue with the 2-2 scoreline as there is everything to play for now at the Emirates.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
