LONDON, England
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hailed a magic night as his side held their nerve to reach the Champions League quarterfinals with a penalty-shootout victory over Porto on Tuesday.
Leandro Trossard's first-half
goal made it 1-1 on aggregate after Porto had edged the first leg, but Arsenal
could not conjure a winner in normal and extra time before they triumphed 4-2
on penalties.
It is the first time the north
Londoners have been in the quarterfinals since 2010, after which they suffered
seven successive exits in the last-16 before a six-season absence from Europe's
elite club competition.
"A magic night. We
expected a really tough opponent. It's very difficult to generate momentum and
that's credit to (Porto)," Arteta told reporters.
"It's a huge experience
for us. We had to do it as well through penalties. Credit to (goalkeeper) David
(Raya) who had some difficult moments to start but showed incredible
determination and stood up and got rewarded."
Loanee Raya had returned to
the starting line-up after being unable to play against his host club Brentford
on Saturday as Arsenal won an eighth successive Premier League match to move
top of the table with 10 games left.
The Spaniard proved the hero
on a tense night as he kept out Galeno's penalty to spark wild celebrations.
"Obviously it's a great feeling for me personally, first time in the Champions League and for the club to get into the quarterfinals for the first time in so many years," Raya said.
"We've worked a lot on
penalties this year and all the hard work with the goalie coach and the team
has paid off. A great moment personally and collectively.
"This means everything.
You play football for these kinds of things and I'm lucky to be playing for
Arsenal."
There was a mood of euphoria
at the end and Arteta said the fans had helped his young side get over the
line.
"We're starting to create
an unbelievable energy in the stadium, we were all pushing to get it done and
together we have done it," he said. "We absolutely love (the fans),
the energy they gave, how positive they were, how they contributed.
"They made us win, it's
as simple as that."
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