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Arsenal crash out of Europa League

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Arsenal crash out of Europa League




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Arsenal’s hopes for a European title ended when the Premier League leader was eliminated from the Europa League by Sporting Lisbon on Thursday in a penalty shootout.

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Lisbon reached the quarterfinals by prevailing 5-3 in the shootout at the Emirates Stadium after a 1-1 draw in regulation in the second leg of their round-of-16 encounter. The first leg ended 2-2.

Gabriel Martinelli failed to convert from the spot for Arsenal.

“It’s a huge blow,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told BT Sport. “There were moments, especially during the first 75 minutes, when we weren’t at our level and gave every ball away.”

Meanwhile, Manchester United cruised into the quarterfinals after a 1-0 victory at Real Betis.

Arsenal dominated the extra time with playmaker Martin Ødegaard coming on as a substitute but Sporting goalkeeper Antonia Adán made some stunning saves to force the shootout.

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Manuel Ugarte was sent off two minutes before the end of extra time after picking his second yellow card.

Granit Xhaka gave Arsenal a first-half lead on a rebound to complete a flowing move by the hosts. Martinelli had his effort on goal blocked by Adán but the ball came into Xhaka’s path for the Arsenal captain to curl it into the net from inside the area.

Granit Xhaka gave Arsenal a first-half lead on a rebound to complete a flowing move by the hosts. Martinelli had his effort on goal blocked by Adán but the ball came into Xhaka’s path for the Arsenal captain to curl it into the net from inside the area.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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