Mikel Arteta fails to put Arsenal back among European heavyweights in Porto
There was always a danger that Mikel Arteta’s bold words would come back to haunt him.
And sure enough, Arteta was punished in the most brutal fashion by Porto’s devastating 94th-minute winner. But Arsenal also paid a heavy price for their safety-first approach in the Estádio do Dragão as they did not manage a single shot on target.
It highlighted their naivety and lack of experience in the Champions League, a competition they have not been in for seven years. Gunners boss Arteta had promised in the build-up to put them back among the European heavyweights by trying to end their curse of not having even reached the quarter-finals since 2010.
That 14-year gap must have played on Arteta’s mind because, after smashing 21 goals in their last five Premier League games, they put - to use an Arsene Wenger phrase - the handbrake on.
Rather than use the tactics that have served them well, they sat deep, played too cautiously and then committed the cardinal sin in injury time of giving the ball away.
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They allowed Porto to come onto them. They allowed Porto’s Brazilian forward Galeno - who had missed a first-half sitter - to hit a stunning 25-yard shot into the bottom corner while Arsenal defenders stood off him.
That now leaves Arsenal in serious danger for the second leg at the Emirates next month and it will also undoubtedly check their momentum in the Premier League title race.
After conceding so late, Arsenal’s players looked shell-shocked at the final whistle and will now have to pick themselves up again to face Newcastle on Saturday night.
The games are coming thick and fast and Arteta will have to pick his players up off the floor because they will be wondering how they lost this against pretty average opposition.
Porto won the match with a late goal (Getty Images)But the reality is that while Porto had 40-year-old defender Pepe in their ranks, Arsenal had reactive rookies. Pepe was making his 48th appearance in the Champions League knock-out stages which is exactly THREE times more than Arsenal had in their collective ranks in their starting line-up.
Maybe that inexperience showed in the opening stages as Arsenal looked a little nervous at the back, Declan Rice got an early booking before he and Martin Odegaard settled down and did well in midfield.
It was Galeno who gave Arsenal an incredible double let-off after getting across Gabriel. His first shot hit the post, the rebound came back to him and he somehow put that wide with the goal gaping at his mercy.
Then it was all about Arsenal exerting control. That must be Arteta’s buzzword because you could see they took an eternity over every set piece, taking the sting out of the game and slowing it down. They played at snail pace.
Incredibly, Dutch referee Serdar Gözübüyük only gave one minute of added time at the end of the first half despite the obvious time-wasting.
But Arsenal were not playing well either. They were a long way from their free-scoring selves of the past few weeks and were back to the slow, ponderous approach with too many players taking too long on the ball.
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Finally, Arsenal created their first big chance after 56 minutes when, after another excruciatingly long delay, Rice put over a corner and Leandro Trossard volleyed horribly over.
That was Arsenal’s best chance by far. Gabriel put a late header over. But the sting in the tail came when they lost control of the ball and allowed Porto onto them and Galeno punished them in remarkable style.
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