Arsenal win 11th consecutive

*Scorer: Welbeck 77'

After the picturesque goals in the Premier League match against Leicester, Arsenal's performance yesterday may not have been exactly pleasing to the fans. However, it is difficult to ask for more from a team that played on Monday night and then traveled more than 1,500km to play away in the earliest match of Thursday night. On the contrary, people saw in Arsenal's play a certain bravery, perseverance and grit - qualities that were rarely seen in the final period of the previous Arsene Wenger's reign.

In this match, coach Unai Emery changed more than half of the squad, leaving on the bench a series of important players who contributed to the recent victory against Leicester, such as Mesut Ozil, Lucas Torreira and Alexandre.Lacazette. Instead, Danny Welbeck led the attack, while Ghanit Xhaka played... left-back, and MohamedElneny combined with MatteoGuendouzi holds the center.

Too many changes made the level of cohesion in Arsenal's play not as expected. The attacks were mainly concentrated on the right wing, but StephanLichtsteiner is not Hector Bellerin to be able to create a breakthrough. The 34-year-old defender's passes almost never find Welbeck orPierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

During the first half, the away team therefore only had one shot on target. That was from a free kick to the left wing by Henrikh.Mkhitaryan makes goalkeeper RubenRibeiro had to punch the ball out.

Ribeiro was also Sporting Lisbon's best player. Had it not been for his clever runs and reflexes, the home side's net might have been open early on as Arsenal began to ramp up their firepower at the start of the second half. In just two minutes, from 48 to 50,Aubameyang was given two good chances.

The first time was with the right foot and the second time with the left foot, but both failed to beat him.Ribeiro. Minute 53, Welbeck was placed in a position where he could have scored with his eyes closed, from a pass fromGuendouzi, but the ball hit a home player's leg and bounced out. The English striker then headed the ball into the Sporting net but the goal was disallowed because the referee thought he had committed a foul.

Recently, there was a notable comment about coach Unai that he spent the first half studying the opponent and the second half delivering the finishing blow. That may be just a figure of speech. But it is not without basis. After sensing the opportunity was ripe, in the 58th minute, the coach who won three consecutive Europa League titles with Sevilla played his trump card.Torreira came on to replace the most lackluster player of the match, Elneny.

The Uruguayan midfielder's agility immediately gave Arsenal complete control, forcing Sporting to retreat to their own half. And it was Torreira who broke the deadlock with a through-ball in the 77th minute. The ball seemed to lightly touch Aubameyang before heading towards the Sporting penalty area. The surprised centre-back Coates was unable to block the ball, allowing Welbeck to break through the gap between goalkeeper Ribeiro's legs, putting Arsenal ahead.

After the goal,Sporting rose up but were met by Arsenal's tight defence.Jovane Cabral and Bruno Gaspar both had to take long-range shots, and both missed the target. That partly explains whyThe home side had a total of 15 shots throughout the match but none were on target against Arsenal. Their only notable finish came when Nani fired a long-range shot in the first half that went two inches over the bar.

The result remained unchanged until the end of the match, helping Arsenal to take sole possession of Group C with nine points from three matches. It also extended their winning streak in all competitions to 11 matches - their longest since October 2007. This was also the first time Arsenal had won in Portugal, after three losses and three draws.

Line-up

Sporting Lisbon (4-3-3): Ribeiro; Ristovski (Gaspar, 45'), Pinto, Coates, Acuna; Battaglia, Petrovic, Gudelj (Cabral, 71'); Nani (Diaby, 87'), Montero, Fernandes

Unused subs: Mane, Salin, Mathieu, Luis Booked: Coates, Acuna, Battaglia, Cabral.

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Leno; Lichtsteiner, Papastathopoulos, Holding, Xhaka; Elneny (Torreira, 58'), Guendouzi; Mkhitaryan, Ramsey, Welbeck (Lacazette, 81'); Aubameyang (Iwobi, 86').

Subs not used: Ozil, Mustafi, Jenkinson, Martinez