Arsenal will take a 2-2 draw back to the Emirates Stadium for the second leg of their Europa League last-16 clash with Sporting CP next week for a place in the quarter-finals.

Both teams played out an entertaining four-goal thriller in Lisbon on Thursday evening, with both the Gunners and the Lions trading first-half headers from a corner before Granit Xhaka’s deflected effort salvaged a point after Paulinho fired the hosts in front ten minutes after the break.

Mikel Arteta’s side failed to assert their dominance in the final 28 minutes, despite registering more possession (68%) and registering more shots total shots (14).

It could have been a different story had Gabriel Martinelli bagged a goal with his sensational mazy solo run.

After picking up the ball near his own penalty box, the Brazilian winger danced past three players, then rounded the goalkeeper but the sheer speed of Jeremiah St. Juste thwarted him before he could fire the shot into the empty net.

His display certainly deserved a lot more as he was largely starved of service, whilst similarly for Bukayo Saka, his outing should have been rewarded with the victory in Portugal…

How did Bukayo Saka do vs Sporting CP?

In the words of analyst Statman Dave, the England international was “electric” at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, having earned the joint-highest Sofascore rating for the visitors (7.8).

Saka was successful with eight of his nine dribbling attempts, proving to be a complete nightmare for his opposite number, who registered the fourth-worst rating for the home outfit (6.4).

The Hale End sensation was at the forefront of every Arsenal attack, managing an 87% passing accuracy, 69 touches and two successful long balls and he did so without forgetting his defensive tasks, with a total of three tackles – only bettered by one other player on the pitch – and he won 12 of his 15 duels (80%), via Sofascore.

Valued at £106m by CIES Football Observatory, Saka was said to have ’caused Sporting all sorts of problems with his pace and trickery’ by journalist Chris Wheatley after the match.

Such a performance certainly warranted more than a draw, especially considering it could have easily been a game in which Arteta rested his star man, thus a win would’ve been just dessert for taking such a big risk, with the north London giants fighting for their first Premier League title in nearly a decade.

Arsenal’s “monster” – as once hailed by writer Mark White – was evidently one of the top performers in this encounter, it’s just a shame that his efforts were not rewarded with more.

AND in other news, Arteta could unearth Arsenal’s next Ashley Cole in “versatile” Hale End sensation…