Two substitutes combined to grab our late, late winner against Sporting in the first leg of our Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday in Lisbon.
Kai Havertz controlled and calmly finished a wonderful pass from Gabriel Martinelli in injury-time of a hard-fought encounter against the Portuguese champions.
Both players had been brought on in the second-half, looking to break down a resolute Sporting side, who had won all five Champions League home games so far this season, and were on a 16-game winning streak at the Jose Alvalade Stadium, before we recorded our second win in the Portuguese capital in as many seasons.
Afterwards the boss was delighted with the impact his substitutes made.
“It’s been the story of the season, how important the finishers have been for us, to achieve what we want. And today, all of them – Gabi came on and made a huge impact; Kai the same; Max the same. So we really need that, and we’re really happy with that.”
“It’s very difficult to win away from home in the Champions League,” he added, “and certainly against a team that have won 16 games in a row at home, so that tells you what we’ve done.
“We had moments where we were very, very dominant, and we had our chances, we lacked certain threat in and around the box – we needed to be more efficient and crisper with our last pass, and as well we needed David twice to make a save to help us to win.”
The late winner puts us in a strong position heading into the second leg at Emirates Stadium next Wednesday, as we look to make it through to the semi-final of the Champions League in back to back seasons for the first time in our history. The boss was keen to reiterate that it’s still only half time in the tie.
“One hundred percent, they know that, they know how tough it’s going to be now at Emirates Stadium, and we’ll be fully ready for that.
“The supporters were exceptional again, thank you so much for following all the way here, and being with the team. We’re very happy to give them the victory.”
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