Champions League Night – Arsenal v Porto

This is getting too scrappy and it doesn’t suit us.

Jorginho looks like he needs to come off – Partey’s on the bench we should have a good replacement.

Well Arteta’s not so much shitting the bed as setting it on fire with that change.

very unusual for him to make such an offensively-minded change…we had better make sure we don’t leave Kiwior on an island, as he looks burnt

we need to make a final push and avoid extra time

what a dreadful pass by Saka, after a beautiful setup by Ode

Ode has been on a different level tonight.

He’s looked so much better since the winter break.

Is that not a foul on Ode?

this has an eerily similar feel to that fucking Sporting affair…let’s hope the outcome is different

all I know is that whomever is the losing manager will have an absolute shit-fit when he comes face-to-face with the ref

Porto look more knackered than Arsenal

Kroenke

Seriously? You ever heard of jinxing things?

GD late starts, as we already put the clock ahead in my part of the world…now I’ve got to put the laptop on pause and eat some chow

Surely some fresh legs would be a good idea.

Not feeling confident don’t know if its nerves, a lack of faith in Arteta or both.

Christ Zenchenko inverting in midfield.

I thought we’d stopped that shit.

Well done Raya.

Ye#ssssssssss fucking brilliant

Raya used his gigantic nostrils to snort those pens towards him

Beating that nasty bunch of cheating wankers was almost as much fun as the win.

Marc
Zinch spent his entire time on the pitch vacillating between hero and zero as usual.

4 unstoppable pens. Almost like a German international team. That win counts as progress I think. So there should be given the moolah that’s been splashed.

certainly not a stellar performance, but maybe the most confident penalty shootout I’ve witnessed in decades…great to finally be in the next round for the first time since 2010

i must admit I was shitting myself when MA went with a front 3 of Jesus, Havertz and Eddie, as I felt we needed to avoid the penalty gig at all costs…thank goodness they rose to the challenge in the end!!!

Just did some research on Trossard senior, ie tonight’s so-called referee.

Turns out he’s an utter Dick that goes by the name of Turpin. No wonder his officiating felt like a complete (highway) robbery! At least our penalty takers were able to stand and deliver!

I’ll get my coat for the second time this week. Don’t worry it’s just post match euphoria mixed with some non chemical delirium. I’ll be back to being an old bastard tomorrow (or Friday depending who we get in the draw).

A good game between two quality sides as it should be at this level. I think both games exposed a lack of nous that may count against us now it’s big boys from here on in.

Porto are no mugs and accustomed to playing past the group stages so this was a good test. While we didnt blow them away, we showed greater maturity than the first and played a much more controlled game. Games are often won by tight margins in the knock out stages so I’d see this game as progress even if it doesn’t give me much reason for optimism when we meet a proper big name.

Wendell did a tidy job on Saka both legs, partly I think because White was more restrained. He needed to be. But like the rest of the team, he’s finding out that CL knock out is a different beast with teams set up better to nullify him and of course facing a better standard of player. Rice was also less ambitious, playing more like he would at West Ham, effective but not as progressive as he has been the last few months. It’s a learning curve for all of them

Fair play to Tets for trying to change things from an attacking point of view but I think bringing ESR on would have been more effective than Eddie. Move Havertz to straight 9 and have ESR playing 8, his movement can be as intelligent as Havertz and would have given Porto more to worry about. His work rate off the ball has looked impressive recently too. I don’t get his lack of game time knowing what he’s capable of, or maybe was as I’m working off memory as much as anything these days. As for Zinny, he looked shaky and a little off the pace.

Quarters eh? Not used to this. Hoping for Munich or Barca, I’ve got some late stage Wenger ghosts to lay to rest and would love to have us knock Kane out and extend his trophy drought. Realistically however, I think this tie has shown us progressing further will he a tall order.

I will say this, if we can find a way to harness the confidence we exuded on the spot today during our regular office hours, we could find ourselves in the semis…if not, our lack of end product could be our undoing…after all, we scored once in 210+ minutes against a scrappy, albeit well-coached, squad, which isn’t meant to diminish our long-awaited accomplishment of reaching the quarters

if we’re viewed as an underdog from this point forward I hope we take a page out of the Porto handbook, as they displayed the tactical acumen generally required to make things tough against a better side…it’s clear they watched ample tape, especially our most recent fixture, and knew full-well what to expect if Marts wasn’t able to go, as we’re a little too much of an open tactical book…thankfully their end product wasn’t there tonight and we were able to tie things up…if we’re in a similar position next round, with a then healthy Marts, I would hope that our attacking approach took better advantage of the potential matchups, especially if Rice and Havertz are our most centrally advanced options…we must make our opponents pick their poison, then adjust our tactics accordingly…so looking forward to the draw!!!

Aitcho
I doubt we will see ESR on the playing field again in AFC colours. He hasn’t been forgiven for praising Ozil.

Some good points there Aitcho. Porto had some quality players and they’d evidently done their homework. I thought Arsenal were unable to impose their PL style of play and as you say, they were more cagey. Having Martinelli out wide would have allowed more opportunities on the left but Trossard junior put in a good shift.

You were there right? I have one nagging question… Who was down to take our fifth penalty?

It’s good to be in the qf draw. I think I’d prefer to play one of the winners of tonight’s 2 games and avoid the big guns

KP – any body remaining in the draw would be good. If a lesser team gets through to the next round they will still be good and determined.

Hi NORG
I’m a bit more discriminatory than that. I know they’re all good at this stage but I’d rather the big boys get drawn against each other and we get one of the slightly lesser lights. One O
of the two teams that go through tonight would do me.

I’m the same when FA Cup draws are made. Sutton over Man City every time, knowing we’ll still meet them later.

Remember that time we played them (Sutton) a few years back and their 40 stone reserve GK was eating a sausage roll on the touchline? It was all linked to a bit of betting fraud iirc.

He wasn’t an ounce over 39 stone. I thought it was a pie he was eating – how many could he consume in a game. In China the bookies would have been working overtime. If my memory serves me well there was an ex Arsenal player in the Sutton line up.

Craig Eastmond – a decent player but was never going to break into the first team with the likes of Song, Cazorla and Coquelin around. According to our friends on the interweb he’s still at Sutton so good for him. I think I also saw him play for Colchester at an earlier stage.