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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barney Ronay at the Emirates Stadium

Arsenal pass a brutal rite of passage to overcome Porto’s spiky resilience

Martin Ødegaard receives acclaim from Arsenal fans.
A piece of sublime skill by the Arsenal captain, Martin Ødegaard, set up Leandro Trossard’s goal against Porto. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

In the end this was the perfect way for Arsenal to win this tie. Beating a Portuguese team on penalties. This feels like a kind of hazing ritual, some brutal rite of passage, like running up a frozen Munro with a bag full of bricks on your back just to make it more special.

For a side that has been accused, by those who like to accuse, of not being ready to win, of being callow and excitable, there was something perfectly paced about the stodginess of this Champions League last-16 second leg.

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