Arsenal v Porto. A review & what next! by Baron
What a night it was!
Congratulations to the Arsenal faithful on JustArsenal & beyond.
We lived through every imaginable emotion with the team last night & we deserve the collective smiles on our faces this morning.
I expected a tough time (it would have been foolhardy to have expected an easy victory, after what played out in the first leg) and a tough tie it was indeed.
Any team in the knockout rounds of the UCL earned the right to be there, so no surprises.
Mannnn, Porto are a dirty football team!
Play acting, falling over every 15 secs, making rugby tackles at every turn, elbows & hip checks, & repeatedly waving imaginary cards seemed to be their go-to tactics, yet the referee seemed to be in on the act. Totally encouraged their silliness by refusing to do anything about it. Same thing happened in the first leg (that was even worse), where the ball was only in play for about 50mins or thereabouts.
Absolute sh*thousery!
We complain about the general standard of officiating in the EPL, but it appears referees on European nights are just as bad, if not worse, judging by these two games against Porto.
I hope we do not have to face this kind of ginger + vinegar + quinine mix type of games anymore, now that Stoke City Prime is out.
Glad we eventually made it. It would have been such a heartbreaking moment, had we not qualified. My biggest concern was the kind of effect being knocked out would’ve had on the team & by extension, the rest of our season. Getting knocked out under these circumstances, with a lengthy break to face till our next game against City on March 31st would’ve been such a downer.
Thankfully we answered in the best way possible.
Sweet relief at first, then undeniably, the belief grows.
A massive mental test passed successfully.
Big ups to the Emirates crowd last night. They played a huge part in helping us cross the line.
Totally intimidated the Porto players with their noise decibels during the shootout.
Booed the Porto spotkick takers to the point that they could barely raise their heads up while facing Raya.
Odegaard, Master, Fighter, Capitan!
For all the rave reviews the likes of Saka & Saliba earn on a weekly basis, none epitomizes the ethos of this team quite like Ødegaard.
Energy that belies his frame, passion, dedication & commitment to the badge.
Never stops running, never stops fighting, never stops pressing.
A captain that leads by example on the pitch.
There’s a reason he’s my favourite Arsenal player.
Raya, you beauty!
I doubt there are many doubters left after last night.
Rice, perfect temperament for nights like these.
Make no mistake, we’ve only qualified for the quarter finals, not that we’ve won the competition yet.
Savour this moment and remain humble in victory.
However, you can only win when you’re still in the competition, & here we are. Can we do the unthinkable? It’s too early to think that far. The best approach is to take it one game at a time.
Arsenal, Oh how i love you!
We lived this moment together.
Victoria Concordia Crescit ❤️
COYG 💪
By Baron
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My oh my!!! What a time to be an Arsenal fan. Football is a culture and Arsenal is my tribe.
14 years, but worth waiting for. A beautiful night in the red city 🔴⚪️🫶
Merci Wenger showed us the way and his disciple picked up the glove. Vamos ❤️
Can just imagine, what a great night it must have been for the faithful, and to think it can actually gets better.
For those whose mind was clouded by history, never you become a prisoner of your pass.
@Gunsmoke
RealTalk 👍🏾
14 year old DEMONS have been laid to rest. They can now move forwards. I never thought it was going to be a walk through the park by any means. European Champions League is played at a totally different tempo. It’s more tactical than the physicality of the week in week out of the English Premier League. I would say Mikel Arteta and his lads will have learned alot from those two Legs against Porto. They had to SUFFER in those two matches. It’s a good learning curve for Manager and players. You have hand it to Porto. They made it uncomfortable for Arsenal. Porto do have EUROPEAN PEDIGREE,,, ARSENAL don’t. Arsenal has to be given alot of credit,, they held there nerves. This so called tag of”BOTTLERS” must surely be put it bed now. The was no bottling last night. It’s a shame we have to wait 19 days for the Manchester City 🆚 Arsenal match. I’d prefer playing City right now instead of playing them in 19 days time. Will be interesting as to who Arsenal are drawn against for the Quarter Finals
Real talk Pjennings. I totally agree with your submission.
Indeed it would be interesting to see who we’d get drawn against. Obviously no “easy” games at this level anymore, just like the Porto game showed us.
That said, if i was forced to pick an opponent i’d prefer us to meet, then it would be the winner of the Dortmund/PSV clash.
We wait!
@Baron. Yes, I would certainly take either of those two. I would also gamble our chances against Barcelona. They are not the Barcelona of old. After 28 matches in the La Liga, they’re travelling 3rd on the table,, won 18,, drawn 7,, lost 3,, and have conceded 34 goals. But then again, they still have the ability of showing up in the Champions League when it matters. What ever the draw, there will be no easy match. After beating Porto in the fashion Arsenal did, and the way Porto set themselves up, the young lads must be starting to get that SELF BELIEF. It wasn’t pretty to watch,, but a win is a win. And that Richard Keyes whatever his name is, is such a certified W#NKER. Having a go at Arsenal for OVER CELEBRATING. That guy has a massive chip on his shoulder to put it kindly. I think I woke up the entire Tokyo early yesterday morning. I’ve copped some banter over David Raya from friends in Germany. With ten minutes remaining of extra time, I was reminded of Raya’s statistics regarding penalty saves. 32 penalties, 2 saves. I was confident he would save at least two of them. He could have saved three. His composure was very good. Plus his temperament is excellent. I’m fairly well happy for him
Went to my 1st match last night and was brilliant.
Even tho Porto tried there best to ruin it , with the help of the ref.
We got no favor from him at all and the fans let him know.
Fans were so amazing.
Maybe he was trying to show he wasn’t biased towards Trossard .. although he did too good of a job. Will that Porto manager be disciplined? Not only making false accusations about Arteta, but interfering with play while being completely outside of his box, and blocking of Kai Havertz? Arteta has had a red card for far less …
What a fantastic match to start your journey with Arsenal. Being there is thrilling at the best of times but what an occasion!!!
Well said SueP
So true SueP , ive always been a bit jealous of the atmosphere i see from other teams but being there last night that idea is well gone and ill say again the fans were the edge we needed to get over that large hill.
We wouldn’t let Porto’s supporters get a cheer in at all.
Great night, but against a very undeserved opposition, lead by a Twat! i would’ve preferred we show them our true colours by putting the game to bed in less than 60 minutes. i just could’nt contain myself all through the game.
The expected bubbly reaction of a clearly excited and exuberant fan.
Well written too, btw!
To me though, being far older and more worldly wise than Baron, I foundlast night, yes, fullof tension and committment as I would expect to have done.
But as for entertainment and a levelof football technique we have become accustomed to see this season, it was DISMALLY LACKING.
To my discerning mind , only Odegaard ( esp him) plus also Raya and Kiwior, escaped rightful criticism for what was a way below par performance and very many of our players were awful, esp SAKA who had probably his single worst game ever in our shirt. How he was not subbed long before the ninety minutes, was depressing to see.
Though once we went into extra time it became obvious we were likely to get to penalties and then, but only then, SAKA was a plus, as his penalty taking this season as also last night , has been excellent.
All round then, a nervy, sub par performance, esp in poor technique and lack of entertainment. The tension was palpable, but it ruined the game as entertainment value.
Personally , I have little doubt that we are definitely NOT going to win the CL and found myself half hoping during the extra time that we would get knocked out , as that would give us a big advantage in freshness and less injury risk against our two Prem rivals who are both busy on several fronts.
I predict that our getting through may well come back and bite us in our Prem chase.
You may wildly disagree with what I write but it is MY truth and MY opinion, to which I am entitled.
Many much agreed with me on the JA thread last night while the game was ongoing, btw