David Raya’s crucial penalty saves propelled Arsenal to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) for the first time in 14 years, after beating FC Porto on Tuesday, at the Emirates Stadium in London.
Arsenal’s goalie Raya was the ‘Player of the Match’, saving two spot-kicks as Arsenal beat Porto 4-2 on penalties to move to the next round of the UCL.
Leandro Trossard made the first breakthrough of the match in the 41st minute of the first half and leveled the aggregate 1-1. Martin Odegaard found Trossard in the box, who placed the ball into the far corner and gave Arsenal a crucial lead in the first half.
In the 68th minute of the game, Odegaard got the back of the net with a lovely finish from Ben White’s pass; however, the referee ruled it out after a VAR check as Havertz fouled Pepe when the Norwegian midfielder attempted to shoot.
Following that, neither side came close to scoring a winner, and the match went into extra time.
In the 100th minute, Porto’s Sanchez moved forward and tried to score a winner for the visitors, but it went wide.
As the game continued, the atmosphere heated up, with both managers booked for poor behavior on the sidelines as the game moved into extra time.
After the final whistle, the game moved to penalties to decide a winner, with Raya proving the difference between the two teams by saving first from Wendell and then Wenderson Galeno’s spot kick.
Odegaard, Havertz, Bukayo Saka, and Declan Rice were the scorers for Arsenal in the penalty shootout. Meanwhile, for Porto, only Pepe and Marko Grujic managed to get the back of the net, ending the penalty shootout at 4-2 for the Gunners.