Champions League: Porto Defeat Arsenal In Second Round First Leg

Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat to FC Porto in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 clash at the Estadio Dragon in Portugal on Wednesday night.

The Gunners failed to continue their impressive domestic form in Europe’s premier competition and left Portugal with no shot on target in a woeful performance.

Galeno scored a stoppage-time curled to give Porto a slender advantage in the tie.

Arsenal dominated possession, but they failed to turn their dominance into chances as the likes of Kai Havertz and William Saliba headed off target.

The Gunners have now lost five successive knockout games in the Champions League, and it is the second time they failed to have a shot on target in the competition after doing so against Barcelona in 2011.

Arsenal Manager, Mikel Arteta admitted that his team’s performance was not good enough in Portugal.

Arteta said, “Obviously, we have to manage much better when you cannot win. The way we handled the ball on three occasions in deep areas, it’s not good enough. It’s half-time, you want to be in the quarter-finals, you have to beat your opponent, and that’s what we have to do at the Emirates.”

“We lacked threat, we lacked much more threat, more aggression when we had the ball in the final third, especially in the back as well, more purpose to hurt them. We can do better. We play at home now, we know them and we know what to expect.”

Arteta is confident that Arsenal will learn from the defeat ahead of the second leg next month.

He said: “We will learn from it. Now it is clear, it is half-time. If you want to be in the quarter-finals, you have to beat your opponent, and that will be the purpose and the plan.”

The second leg comes up at the Emirates Stadium on March 12, and their supporters will be hoping they can turn the tie around at home.

Arsenal will be hoping to bounce back from the disappointment when they take on Newcastle United on Saturday in the Premier League home.