Arsenal defeated Porto 4-2 in penalties on Tuesday to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time since 2010. David Raya was the game’s hero for the Gunners. After an intense second leg at the Emirates, the teams were tied at 1-1 on aggregate, but Raya made two saves in the shootout to crush the hearts of the two-time winners.
The home team converted all four of their penalties as the excitement level skyrocketed and the goalkeeper dove full stretch to deny Wendell. He then repeated the feat against Galeno.
Arteta’s Premier League leaders, who have scored 33 goals in their last eight league games, trailed 1-0 after the first leg and were not at their most efficient against a well-organized Porto team. Just before halftime, Leandro Trossard gave Arsenal an equalizer, demonstrating that their patience paid off.
Sergio Conceicao’s men were successful in stopping the home team for long spells of the first half, creating enough opportunities of their own to make it a stressful night for the excited fans.
The breakthrough came in the 41st minute, because of outstanding work by Odegaard, who jinked past an opponent and provided Trossard with a brilliantly weighted low pass into the box.
To calm the tension, Trossard calmly sent a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Diogo Costa and into the far corner of the net.
The home side looked the more threatening in the early stages of extra time, but Porto remained a threat on the counterattack, with substitute Mehdi Taremi curling wide.
For the second period of extra time, Arteta substituted Eddie Nketiah and Oleksandr Zinchenko; nevertheless, neither team was able to produce a winner, therefore it went to penalties and Arsenal won.
