Co-authored by ClockEndRider & 21stCenturyGooner
A month full of travelling to far away lands culminated in what proved to be a wonderful trip in the coastal Portuguese capital, Lisbon.
After many ridiculously early starts, it was lovely to have an early afternoon flight meaning we didn’t have to leave home until gone 9AM. We made it round the M25 to Heathrow in record time, flew through security and following a fry up and a breakfast pint, it was time to get on the relatively short flight over to Portugal.
We landed around 5pm and despite the setting sun, it was still incredibly mild. More so than the UK, that’s for sure. A short metro ride took us to our hotel and after we freshened up we walked to the restaurant wearing nothing but a shirt and jeans (and shoes) and enjoyed a splendid seafood supper. If you haven’t been to Lisbon I can assure you the food is pretty damn good.
After a much-needed good night’s sleep, it was time for some sightseeing before the match. First stop, Sao Roque, a Jesuit Church situated on top of one of the many rolling hills in Lisbon. Then we hit the beach enjoying an Aperol Spritz (CER) and a Mojito (21CG). Sunbathing by the sea in late November? You can’t do that in Preston.
We enjoyed yet more exceptional seafood in the Timeout food court for lunch, where the manager of one of the outlets was happy to chat with us and offer a free lunch on Wednesday if we beat Sporting by 4 goals – he was a Benfica fan and he was winding up the chef, a Sporting fan— be careful what you wish for, sir! Then, a quick siesta to recharge our batteries for the evening ahead. After meeting a friend who had travelled out on the day of the game, we hit the town in search of the Gooner congregation.
We travelled down to the harbour area at Cais do Sodre and, on emerging from the Metro, it wasn’t difficult to find where the away fans were congregating – a narrow alleyway with a long row of bars either side. The pints flowed and the singing got louder. All hugely good humoured, as might I add, were the local police who were happy to chat.
At about 6pm, it was time to move to the stadium, a 25-minute metro ride away, then on to the stadium, which is really well designed and a damn sight easier to access than the dinosaur that is the San Siro. Once again, police and riot police were strongly evident, but this is Arsenal and there was never any threat of trouble, which may well have contributed to their general unthreatening air and pleasant demeanour – again, unlike Milan.
The game started and immediately, Sporting came at us, as you would expect. However, it only took 7 minutes for the Arsenal to hit their stride with some fantastic interplay outside the box which led to Timber, who was excellent all night, escaping down the right and hammering in a low cross for Martinelli to slide home from a matter of a few feet. Cue an explosion of noise in the away end as the pressure lifted.
The first goal seemed to shock Sporting. Arsenal proceeded to tighten their grip on the game and strangle Sporting – who had not lost a game this season, up to this point. The inevitable second came on 21 minutes and it was once again perfectly executed. Timber to Partey in midfield, who looked up and chipped a Brady-esque ball – yes, it was that good – over the Sporting defence for Saka to run onto and cross for Havertz to slot home, again from feet.
The rest of the half progressed in the same vein with Arsenal dominating the ball and hardly putting a foot wrong. And then bang on half time, Rice floated in a fabulous corner to the back post for Gabriel to arrive like a train and thump home a header. A scintillating first half drew to a close with the Sporting fans somewhat chastened and the away fans in ecstasy.
Following total away domination in the first half, Sporting came out fighting in the initial stages of the second half. Morita saw his effort well saved by Raya but from the following corner Goncalo Inacio got half a yard on Calafiori and volleyed home at the near post. Unsurprisingly this got the already raucous home crowd going again. Sporting probed but Arsenal managed the game well. Gyokeres threatened to get away from Saliba and Gabriel on a couple of occasions but the reportedly highly sought after Swede was unable to get into the game to any real extent.
Just after the hour, the pendulum swung back in our direction as Ødegaard was brought down in the box by Diomande. Saka stepped up to take the ‘pen and despite the ‘keeper guessing correctly, Saka hit it right into the side netting following a short run up. A proper penalty. Eight minutes from time we added a fifth as Merino saw his effort parried out into the vicinity of Trossard who had come on as sub and the Belgian duly nodded home inside the six-yard box.
Arsenal scored five away from home in the Champions League for the first time since 2008 and it was our biggest away win in the competition since that famous night at the San Siro in 2003. It was an unexpectedly comfortable evening, and the surroundings made it even better. Lisbon did not disappoint. Great food, great people, and even great weather.
And the football wasn’t too bad either!
So glad you had a great time chaps. You deserved it after dispiriting visits to Newcastle and Inter. A truly fantastic performance full of verve and creativity. Gyokeres was kept firmly in his box by the excellent Gabriel and big Willy, looking more Coventry City than Sporting Lisbon.
My son and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening sitting on the sofa and supping beer, after my wife had been banished upstairs to watch the Bake Off final. Two great performances in a row. Full of confidence for our (and my) visit to West Ham on Saturday.
Meanwhile City have a 3-3 draw after being 3-0 up with 15 minutes to go. Pep seems to have scratched his own face. Probably wondering if that new contract has a cool off period.
Cheers, all. Great report on an away European trip for the sges. Excellent father and son bonding done in the process sobwhat’s not to like? Certainly not the free fish supper for beating Sporting by more than four goals, I can assure youu no matter whether there was actually time for it before your flight home. 😉
Thanks fellas – nice travel log and the sort of performance to report on that we should be capable of now the squad is fit again, bar Benny of course.
Gyökeres might be tearing it up in Portugal but he’s no match for William Saliba. What a player. Brilliant defender, strong, calm, no bullshit – just does the job and quietly puts strikers from Gyökeres to that arrogant pig at Manchester City in his back pocket.
Great performance. Great result. Hopefully we’re back and firing.
Excellent description of a fun filled visit to Lisbon with a very fine summary of an entertaining game added to round things of nicely. I’m in Asia and a) kick off was 3 am local time and b) it wasn’t on the telly here anyway. I was very pleasantly surprised to find we’d won 5-1 when I woke up.
A ‘proper penalty’ indeed. Saka’s the man.
Great report chaps capturing the flavour of a European trip to a really nice city and the description of a performance that I believe no other current English side could match . So many positives . We can compete at the top level in the CL and if we play like this we can win it .
We have several really elite players ~Raya , Saliba , Gabriel , Rice , Saka and Odegaard and last night Timber and Partey were also superb .
That’s an excellent account of the trip and the match, delivered astonishingly swiftly given the amount of post-match celebratory imbibing in which you almost certainly partook. We can almost taste the sardines, vinho verde and natas! It sounds like an excellent trip not least because of the match itself, a reward that your earlier unrequited pilgrimages certainly earned.
The team were ‘at it’ from the off and, to a man, they produced at least 8/10 performances. An additional bonus was the stolid and then front foot response to the shock of the early second half goal from Sporting. A year or two ago, I think we might well have wobbled and the final result might have been very different. That’s a clear sign of the growing maturity and determination within this team. A job well done. Onward.
Cheers to the pair of ya!
Looks like you managed to combine a great food/weather/people social trip with a brilliant game and result at the football.
It’s not that common!
Safe trip back.
Of course, if it turns out that there was or will be enough time to take advantage of that free lunch offer for a 4-goal defeat of Sporting, we will all be expecting a detailed and thorough report “in the drinks” as appropriate. 😆
Thanks gents, an enjoyable read about an enjoyable trip for all concerned, 2 games, 8 goals since the international break. And a couple of home games to come in the CL as well
https://x.com/HarveyDownes92/status/1861531828336705609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1861531828336705609%7Ctwgr%5Eb2bb0ec439e43bcab5d834c5c0fc5f64e051217f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Farseblog.news%2F2024%2F11%2Fpost-sporting-quotes-round-up-arteta-pereira-saka-trincao-hjulmund-ferdinand-hargreaves-more%2F
Hope this link works, it was for the most wins in the first 100 games for an Arsenal.
William Saliba is now 4th and I wouldn’t have guessed the three in front of him
I would like to join many above in congratulating the author(s) of this fine report. I wish also to join bt8 in his cry to learn more of your free lunch – they do say, however, that there’s no such thing. Finally, thanks OM for the interesting link, which certainly worked for me. What I found most surprising is how, relatively, recent are all the leading candidates. I had convinced myself it was Premier League era-only before I came upon Pat Rice’s record of 62 wins from 100. It’s almost as though the table is PL-only, with Pat added to make it appear otherwise.
COYG