{"id":588964,"date":"2026-04-07T22:47:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T22:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/588964\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T22:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T22:47:16","slug":"arsenal-beats-sporting-lisbon-on-havertzs-late-goal-in-champions-league-quarterfinals-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/588964\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal beats Sporting Lisbon on Havertz\u2019s late goal in Champions League quarterfinals \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

A second straight Champions League semifinal is in sight for Arsenal.<\/p>\n

Kai Havertz scored in stoppage time on Tuesday to seal a 1-0 win over Sporting Lisbon at Estadio Jose Alvalade to put Mikel Arteta\u2019s team in control of the quarterfinal tie.<\/p>\n

The substitute fired past goalkeeper Rui Silva from close range to give Arsenal the advantage ahead of next week\u2019s second leg at the Emirates.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Arsenal's
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArsenal’s Martin Zubimendi reacts after the English FA Cup quaterfinal soccer match between Southampton and Arsenal in Southampton, England, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Dave Shopland)<\/p>\n

In Tuesday\u2019s other quarterfinal, Bayern Munich beat Real Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeu.<\/p>\n

Havertz settled a tight game in Portugal by combining with fellow substitute Gabriel Martinelli in the first minute of added time. With one touch the German controlled Martinelli\u2019s defense-splitting pass in the box and then converted with a side-footed finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo score a late goal is always nice,\u201d Havertz told Amazon Prime. \u201cWe will take that result. There is still a lot of work to do next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victory saw Arsenal bounce back from successive defeats which cut its quadruple trophy hunt in half in recent weeks. Losses in the League Cup final and FA Cup quarterfinals had shaken the Premier League leader going into Tuesday\u2019s match.<\/p>\n

And it had to withstand an early charge from Sporting in front of a raucous crowd, with player-of-the-match David Raya producing an outstanding save to tip Maximiliano Araujo\u2019s sixth-minute shot onto the bar.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have changed the tie,\u201d Arteta said.<\/p>\n

Arsenal also hit the bar in the first half direct from Noni Madueke\u2019s corner, but both teams struggled to create openings.<\/p>\n

Martin Zubimendi thought he\u2019d found the breakthrough in the second half with a curling effort from range only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.<\/p>\n

Late on, Raya produced a string of saves. First he pushed away a goal-bound header from Geny Catamo and then pulled off a double stop to deny Catamo again and Luis Suarez.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the last two seasons, he\u2019s the best keeper in the world. He has saved us so many times,\u201d Havertz said.<\/p>\n

But it was Havertz who delivered the goal that pushed Arsenal a step closer to another semifinal, having lost to eventual champion Paris Saint-Germain at that stage last year.<\/p>\n

The forward scored the winner for Chelsea in the Champions League final in 2021 and this was another decisive moment for him in this competition.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Arsenal's
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArsenal’s Kai Havertz celebrates after scoring his sides first goal during the Champions League quarterfinals, first leg, soccer match between Sporting CP and Arsenal, in Lisbon, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo\/Armando Franca)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loves the big occasion and the big games,\u201d Arteta said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what we need \u2014 the big players to turn up when we need them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defeat was Sporting\u2019s first at home since August. The Portuguese team has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals of the Champions League.<\/p>\n

\u201cA small lapse in concentration cost us dearly, and it\u2019s frustrating because it happened in the 90th minute, but we have to lift our heads and move on,\u201d coach Rui Borges told Sport TV.<\/p>\n

The scenes of celebration for Arsenal\u2019s players were in stark contrast to the dejection that followed the League Cup final loss to Manchester City and the shock of being beaten by second-division Southampton in the FA Cup on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Sign<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to reveal ourselves today and I talked about identity and other things that we are as a team and that I definitely saw,\u201d Arteta said. \u201cIt\u2019s halftime. We are a step closer, now we need to finish the tie at home in front of our people, and if we do that, we\u2019re going to start to dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

James Robson is at https:\/\/x.com\/jamesalanrobson<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A second straight Champions League semifinal is in sight for Arsenal. Kai Havertz scored in stoppage time on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-588964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}