Arsenal grind out 0-0 draw against Sporting to reach Champions League semi-finals

[p]The hosts needed a big performance after losing their past three domestic games, especially with a crunch trip to Premier League title rivals Manchester City coming up on Sunday.[/p][p]They made a positive start, but the intensity soon dropped as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sporting-cp/tljXuHBC/"]Sporting[/a] settled into the contest, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/trincao/vmYemyQS/"]Francisco Trincao[/a] had the first clear sight of goal when he fired well wide from just inside the box after 18 minutes.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/goncalves-pedro/U9pOGrHb/"]Pedro Goncalves[/a] blazed over from a tight angle on the half-hour mark as the visitors continued to look assured, and the Emirates crowd grew increasingly edgy as half-time approached.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/catamo-geny/29eth6dF/"]Geny Catamo[/a] fired a warning shot two minutes before the break when he met [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/araujo-maximiliano/4UXCOm0L/"]Maximiliano Araujo[/a]’s cross on the volley, only to see the ball clip the outside of the far post with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raya-david/nkVV0IXb/"]David Raya[/a] beaten.[/p][embed guid="1785b63e-495e-4092-9776-df8bef0d9c36" url="https://x.com/Arsenal/status/2044519177419948441" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eze-eberechi/Stf4BYFn/"]Eberechi Eze[/a] then sent an effort over the crossbar from 20 yards in the final act of a first half in which [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] failed to force [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/silva-rui/GErUsMSq/"]Rui Silva[/a] into a save of note.[/p][p]Sporting had scored 14 of their 20 UCL goals this season after the break, and they almost added to that tally when Araújo flashed a shot wide three minutes after the break.[/p][p]Gunners manager Mikel [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arteta-mikel/lAbHYaQM/"]Arteta[/a] responded by replacing former Sporting star [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gyokeres-viktor/zaBZ1xIk/"]Viktor Gyokeres[/a] with first-leg goalscorer [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/havertz-kai/rH8BZWiI/"]Kai Havertz[/a], and his side almost took the lead immediately as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/madueke-chukwunonso/Ac57P9Pt/"]Noni Madueke[/a] raced into the box, but the winger was off balance as he fired into the side netting.[/p][p]The nerves only increased as Arsenal struggled to find the goal to kill the tie, and Arteta was booked for protesting a decision midway through the half.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="a022925e-b9d3-41f3-a33f-1fd3d6f59c68" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="6cb45294-a7a2-42e9-aaaf-164eca226efd" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]The Gunners had little margin for error, but they finished strongly as Sporting faded, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/trossard-leandro/xUAbnjp2/"]Leandro Trossard[/a] heading against the post from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/max-dowman/WzLvGkGO/"]Max Dowman[/a]’s corner.[/p][p]A UCL-high eighth clean sheet will give Arsenal a solid platform against last-four opponents Atlético Madrid, while they have now lost just one of their past 24 European games at the Emirates (W17, D6).[/p][p]Meanwhile, Sporting’s wait for a first semi-final appearance in this competition continues, as they saw their winless run in continental away games against English sides stretch to 11 games (D6, L5).[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/araujo-maximiliano/4UXCOm0L/"]Maximiliano Araujo[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sporting-cp/tljXuHBC/"]Sporting CP[/a])[/b][/p][image alt="Arsenal - Sporting match momentum" id="6c1faf2a-0db1-45bc-bbe0-db26ba0159a0" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="07e9731c-590f-4fbb-b13e-933a1711bb23" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/arsenal-hA1Zm19f/sporting-cp-tljXuHBC/summary/stats/?mid=nJz1sa9F"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore[/a][/b][/p]