Arsenal’s defeat by Sporting Lisbon and exit from the Europa League was compounded by injuries to Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba on Thursday night.
The Gunners were knocked out of the competition on penalties by Sporting after the tie finished 3-3 on aggregate following extra-time at the Emirates Stadium. Granit Xhaka put Arsenal in front after 19 minutes, but Sporting equalised through Pedro Goncalves’ stunning long-range goal. Gabriel Martinelli then saw his spot-kick saved as the Portuguese side won 5-3 in the shootout to progress to the quarter-finals.
Mikel Arteta made five changes to the team which beat Fulham 3-0 on Sunday but his attempts at rotation did not have the desired effect. Tomiyasu had to be replaced by Ben White just nine minutes into the game after injuring himself while lunging into a tackle. The Japan international was later seen leaving the stadium on crutches.
