Arsenal did what they wanted in the game, but didn't 'kill' Sporting at half-time. He then did it, calmly and calmly, something that was sorely lacking on the Leo side.
The tendency, now, will be to enter into the inevitable comparison between Ruben Amorim and João Pereira, between the game with Manchester City and the game with Arsenal, all situations that are easy to analyze when doing Totobola on Monday. The truth of this Tuesday's game, in Alvalade, is that the strongest beat the weakest, as almost always happens in football and always happens in other sports (and that's why football becomes more interesting and universal).
The first part of the meeting showed society that millions count for a lot. Players like Bukayo Saka or Martin Odegaard (are just examples) make a difference. This is without any disregard for Sporting's footballers, who are very good and will probably continue to have an excellent season. In fact, they will continue to make their internal opponents experience what they experienced today: they will win most of the games, with greater or lesser difficulty, they will even allow the opponent to believe in an upset, but in every five games they will win four, draw one, maybe lose one or the other.
Arsenal did what they wanted in the game from the opening whistle. He dominated, scored very early (but City had also done that), scored again in the middle of the first half and got Sporting into the break with a shot into the opponent's goal. Bad luck, from a Leo perspective: Quenda's shot saved by Raya, which could have revived the game, was followed by a corner in stoppage time and Arsenal reached 3-0.
During the restart there was an illusion that Sporting could still get there, a feeling that was not unrelated to Gonçalo Inácio's goal (also following a corner) which in the 47th minute reduced the length of the gap. Sporting played well, then, supported by a human frame worthy of all praise. We bet that the possibility of annihilating the ghost of the Super Cup against FC Porto, when they lost a game they won 3-0, crossed the minds of many Sporting fans during this period. They were right: the team was strong and motivated, wanting to take on the game with personality. But here comes one of the most famous characters in football history: Maybe.
Perhaps one of the many Leonine shots could have reduced the deficit to a goal. Perhaps Arsenal could have actually fallen asleep. But he didn't fall asleep. He left the field for Sporting to play, organized himself well in defense and knew how to attack like the greatest do. After 20 minutes, more or less, depending on how things went, the English forced an attack and Diomande committed an unnecessary penalty.
Maybe Franco Israel could have defended it. Perhaps the Lions could have been more effective on one of the 14 (14!) shots he took in the second half. Perhaps Quenda could have been quicker to mark Martinelli for the first goal. Perhaps Saka couldn't have run so freely down the right in the second. Perhaps someone could have prevented Gabriel Magalhães from heading in alone from the edge of the six-yard box following a corner. Perhaps Gyokeres could have played more and better, as he did in the second half as soon as he saw teammates within 30 meters of him.
Perhaps Diomande could not have committed the penalty that ended all illusions. Perhaps someone could have stopped Merino's shot, which then allowed Trossard's header to complete the shower over the lion's head.
Trincão tried to do magic, but the spectacle was different. The closest Gyokeres came to scoring was a ball on the woodwork… Captain Hjulmand was the lung of a team that found itself in tight spots
A little bath of humility like the one in the first half wouldn't do any harm to a team that now has to rediscover itself. Such a torrent could and should have been avoided.
