To borrow a line from Mikel Arteta, it is not meant to be easy. And it was anything but on the latest anxiety-ridden, claustrophobic occasion for his Arsenal team.
The club’s recent wobble has been pronounced. The loss to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. The FA Cup exit at Southampton. The Premier League defeat against Bournemouth. The nerves are pounding like a migraine and this was a night that was entirely outcome-based.
Hold on to the 1-0 lead from the first-leg of this quarter-final and it would be glory – only a fourth appearance in the semi-finals of the competition. Fall short against a tidy Sporting team and ignominy was guaranteed; a deepening of the existential crisis. It is Manchester City next at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, after all.
The tie rested on the edge of a knife throughout. Arsenal were tough to watch in an attacking sense, unable to penetrate and create. Arteta had demanded there was no fear. Which was absolutely not the case.
It came to be a question of whether Arsenal could keep the backdoor shut. Gloriously, they could, the defensive resolve that has underpinned their season coming to the fore. There were anxious moments. Geny Catamo hit the post for Sporting just before half-time and there were other moments when the visitors almost made it happen. Not least at the very last when the substitute João Simões dragged a shot just wide.
