Porto sucker punch leaves Arsenal on ropes
PORTO, Portugal — Wenderson Galeno came through for Porto with the final whistle about to blow. Now, Arsenal needs to rally to return to the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time since 2010.
Galeno scored deep into stoppage time to give Porto a 1-0 win in the first leg of the round of 16 on Wednesday.
The English team will need to win the return leg in London on March 12 to make it back to the last eight of Europe’s elite club competition.
Galeno broke the deadlock with a right-footed shot into the far corner four minutes into added time. His strike from outside the area came in what was supposed to be the final minute of stoppage time at Estadio do Dragao.
“I think the credit for that goal goes to the whole team, for what they did in the 90 minutes,” Galeno said. “We played well, we defended well, we left all our energy on the pitch. We will try to replicate in London what we achieved here. We will try to stay solid and give our best, as we always do.”
The Brazilian forward, who had hit the post in the first half, was named man of the match.
“When it’s 0-0, you look up at the clock and it’s 93 minutes gone, if you aren’t going to win the game then don’t lose it,” Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said.
“Maybe (we needed to) have that bit of savvy about us to stay in and get a draw in a tough stadium against a tough opponent. They caught us on the counter and he’s stuck one in the top corner which is really disappointing.”
Porto was mostly in control and kept Arsenal from having any attempts on target. The English side was coming off five consecutive wins in which it scored 21 goals in total.
“A lot to play for in the second leg,” Rice said. “We’re really positive as a group, we’ve had such a good start to 2024 that we’re not going to let this get us down.
“We have to change our approach in the home leg and give it absolutely everything,” he added. “Even though we’re a goal down, it’s a nice goal to aim for when we can change it around in the home leg.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta bemoaned his team’s lack of cutting edge. Appearing in a first knockout match in Europe’s premier club competition for seven years, Arsenal struggled to break down an organized Porto defense.
The defeat ended Arsenal’s eightgame unbeaten run against Portuguese opposition and left the Gunners with plenty of work to do in the return leg on March 12.
“We lacked threat. We lacked aggression, especially when we had the ball in the final third,” Arteta told TNT Sports. “So we will tweak a few things to attack better. We can do better.
“I think it’s a team that’s very wellorganized defensively and they break your rhythm all the time.
“We want to be in the quarterfinals, you have to beat your opponent and this is what we have to do at the Emirates.”