Arsenal 0-0 Sporting: Lions edged out by Gunners in London | OneFootball

Geny Catamo and Gabriel Martinelli tussle for the ball at the Emirates. (Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The journey is over but Sporting can be proud of their best ever Champions League campaign. The Portuguese team matched Arsenal throughout the 180 minutes of a tightly contested quarter-final tie, with Kai Havertz’s late goal in the first leg proving the difference.

Tonight at the Emirates Stadium, just like in the first leg, the Lions were far from overawed taking on one of the favourites to win the competition and particularly in the first half caused the hosts problems.

Geny Catamo’s angled shot hit the post after a well-worked move, but that was as close as the visitors came with the Lisbon club running out of energy and attacking ideas in the second half.

The match in Lisbon resembled a chess game for long periods and it was similar in London tonight.

Arsenal bossed most of the possession but were wary of overcommitting too many men forward, while Sporting looked to keep it tight to stay in the tie and hit the English team on the break.

And after the first 45 minutes it appeared the Portuguese side were benefiting most from the highly tactical nature of the game. Arsenal failed to seriously threaten Sporting while the Green and Whites twice came close to taking the lead.

In the 19th minute Francisco Trincão received a pass for the excellent Morten Hjulmand, cut into the box and curled a shot wide with David Raya scrambling across his goal.

Sporting denied by the woodwork

In the 43rd minute the visitors came even closer. Maxi Araújo’s cross landed at the Geny Catamo’s feet, the Mozambican hitting a first-time volley that hit the post.

Early the second half it was Sporting who once again threatened, Maxi shimmying past his marker and smashing an angled shot towards goal but it flew wide.

At this point the large contingent of Sporting fans were making themselves heard loud and clear at the Emirates.

Unfortunately for the Portuguese team, that was as good as it got.

Sporting’s attacking momentum fades

Arsenal remained edgy, but instead of turning up the pressure, Sporting began to run out of energy and attacking ideas as the clock ticked down, Arsenal’s substitutes having more impact than the players Rui Borges was able to bring off the bench.

Noni Madueke and Gabriel Jesus came close to putting Arsenal’s fraught fans out of their misery, but when the referee signalled four minutes of stoppage there was still just one goal separating the two teams.

And it was Sporting who had the final chance, young midfielder João Simões firing a chance just wide.

Arsenal will play Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals, while Sporting will have to regroup quickly ahead of their crunch match against city rivals Benfica on Sunday.

Arsenal: David Raya, Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba, Piero Hincapié, Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, Noni Madueke (Max Dowman, 63’), Eberechi Eze (Gabriel Jesus, 78’), Gabriel Martinelli (Leandro Trossard, 78’), Viktor Gyökeres (Kai Havertz, 56’)