Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hailed a magic night as his side held their nerve to reach the Champions League quarter-finals with a penalty-shootout victory over FC Porto on Tuesday.
Leandro Trossard’s first-half goal made it 1-1 on aggregate
after Porto had edged the first leg.
But Arsenal could not conjure a winner in normal and extra
time before they triumphed 4-2 on penalties.
It is the first time the north Londoners have been in the
quarter-finals since 2010.
This was after they suffered seven successive exits in the
last-16 before a six-season absence from Europe’s elite club competition.
“A magic night. We expected a really tough opponent. It’s
very difficult to generate momentum and that’s credit to (Porto),” Arteta told
reporters.
“It’s a huge experience for us. We had to do it as well
through penalties. Credit to (goalkeeper) David (Raya) who had some difficult
moments to start but showed incredible determination and stood up and got
rewarded.”
Loanee Raya had returned to the starting lineup after being
unable to play against his host club Brentford on Saturday as Arsenal won an
eighth successive Premier League match to move top of the table with 10 games
left.
The Spaniard proved the hero on a tense night as he kept out
Galeno’s penalty to spark wild celebrations.
“Obviously it’s a great feeling for me personally, first
time in the Champions League and for the club to get into the quarter-finals
for the first time in so many years,” Raya said.
“We’ve worked a lot on penalties this year and all the hard
work with the goalie coach and the team has paid off. A great moment personally
and collectively.
“This means everything. You play football for these kind of
things and I’m lucky to be playing for Arsenal.”
There was a mood of euphoria at the end and Arteta said the
fans had helped his young side get over the line.
“We’re starting to create an unbelievable energy in the
stadium, we were all pushing to get it done and together we have done it,” he
said.
“We absolutely love (the fans), the energy they gave, how
positive they were, how they contributed.
“They made us win, it’s as simple as that.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment