April 08, (THEWILL) — Substitute Kai Havertz scored in the 91st minute to hand Arsenal a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Sporting CP in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie.
Both teams wasted little time making their intentions clear, with each side rattling the crossbar inside the opening quarter of an hour.
Sporting’s Maxi Araujo struck the bar after getting in behind the Arsenal defence, while Noni Madueke also hit the woodwork with an in-swinging corner before Martin Odegaard fired narrowly wide.
Arsenal controlled possession for much of the contest but were unable to find the breakthrough. Martin Zubimendi struck a low shot into the bottom-right corner in the 63rd minute, only for the effort to be ruled out after Viktor Gyokeres was judged to have been offside in the build-up.
David Raya preserved Arsenal’s hopes with two crucial stops in the 83rd minute, denying Geny Catamo’s improvised finish before smothering Luis Suarez’s follow-up attempt.
Those saves shaped the outcome of the evening.
Gabriel Martinelli then picked out Havertz on the edge of the area in the 91st minute, and the forward held his nerve against Rui Silva to bend a low shot into the bottom-left corner.
Arsenal welcome the Portuguese side to the second leg at Emirates Stadium next week holding a one-goal lead.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
