ARSENAL were eliminated from the UEFA Europa League at the round of 16 stage tonight after a penalty shootout defeat to Sporting Lisbon, while AS Roma, Union St Gilloise and Bayer Leverkusen scaled through to the quarter-finals.
Full-time and extra-time at the Emirates Stadium ended 1-1 and the tie was 3-3 on aggregate, leading to the shootout which the Portuguese side won 5-3.
Granite Xhaka gave Arsenal the lead tonight after 19 minutes, and the Gunners were ahead on aggregate.
Sporting then levelled the tie in spectacular fashion just past the hour mark, Pedro Goncalves hitting a long-range effort past the stranded Aaron Ramsdale in the Arsenal goal.
The strike was measured at 46 yards from the Arsenal net and no player has scored a goal from farther out in the Europa League this season.
With no further goals in extra-time, the tie went into a shootout, with Sporting playing first and converting all their five kicks while goalkeeper Antonio Adan saved from Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli.
Arsenal have now crashed out of all cup competitions this season but are on course for their first Premier League title in 19 years.
In Spain, Rome held Real Sociedad to a 0-0 draw to advance 2-0 on aggregate, having secured the two-goal win in the first leg in Roma last week.
Nigerian striker Victor Boniface registered an assist for Union St Gilloise as they defeated Union Berlin to ease through 5-3 on aggregate.
Boniface had scored twice in the first leg, which ended 3-3 in Berlin last week.
To complete the quarter-final set, Bayer Leverkusen beat their hosts Ferencvaros 2-0 to progress 4-0 on aggregate.
The four teams join Manchester United, Juventus, Sevilla and Feyenoord, who qualified in tonight’s earlier matches, in the quarter-finals.
Comments are closed.