13th March, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Arsenal defeated Porto 4-2 on penalties at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Arsenal had won the second leg encounter at the Emirates by 1-0 to tie 1-1 on aggregate, Porto having won the first leg in Portugal by the same margin.
The extra-time did not produce any goal, which necessitated shootouts to decide which team progressed to the quarter-finals.
Arsenal players converted all four of their kicks while Porto missed two.
Earlier, the Gunners had opened the scoring in the 41st minute of the match. Leandro Trossard found himself some space inside the box to get on the end of a pass from Martin Odegaard, then sent the ball into the bottom right corner to make it 1-0.
Earlier in the 13th minute, Bukayo Saka wasted a huge opportunity. The fans had already begun to celebrate as he produced a low shot from the edge of the box after a brilliant solo effort. The ball went towards the middle of the goal, but Diogo Costa made an astonishing save.
In the 22nd minute, Evanilson received a precise pass in the box and took the shot early. The ball headed towards the middle of the goal, but David Raya showed off his skills and made a brilliant save to deny him.
In the 70th minute, Francisco Conceicao picked up the ball, dribbled to the edge of the penalty area and unleashed a brilliant shot to the bottom right corner, but was thwarted by a great save from David Raya.