Europa League - Group E
ArsenalArsenal0SportingSporting Lisbon0

Arsenal 0-0 Sporting Lisbon: Danny Welbeck injured as Gunners reach last 32

By Michael EmonsBBC Sport
Danny Welbeck is carried off the pitch on a stretcher
Danny Welbeck has played 42 times for England and on Thursday had been named in the squad for the matches against USA and Croatia

Arsenal fear forward Danny Welbeck has suffered a "very big injury" after he was carried off on a stretcher during his side's Europa League game against Sporting Lisbon on Thursday.

It ended goalless at Emirates Stadium as the Gunners secured a place in the last 32, but the match was overshadowed by the 27-year-old England international's ankle injury.

"He is at the hospital. The news is that we are going to wait, but we think it's a serious injury," said Arsenal boss Unai Emery.

"Every injury is different. This could be a break of something in the ankle.

"It's clear that we're with him in these minutes. He's a very good person and his commitment with us is very big.

"It's a very big injury for him, for us, for all people who like and love him as a person."

Welbeck was hurt in the 25th minute when he jumped for a header and landed badly on his right ankle.

He received oxygen and had his leg in a protective brace as he was taken off the pitch, with up to 10 medical staff around him as he received treatment.

Arsenal's Henrikh Mkhitaryan with injured team-mate Danny Welbeck
Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan with team-mate Welbeck

Some of Welbeck's team-mates were also visibly affected by the incident.

"They saw it was a big injury," added Emery.

"When you are playing football, when you are playing in competitive matches, it can happen. You don't want it to happen, but this is our profession."

Welbeck has scored five goals this season, played for England against Spain in September and had been named in Gareth Southgate's latest squad for the friendly with the United States and the Nations League match against Croatia.

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown, working as a pundit for BT Sport, said: "Danny has had two major injuries to his knee and he tried to plant his foot and got it stuck behind him.

"He is a great player and good for that group as he is 27, one of the older players. He will be a big loss for them. It looks like he will be out for a while."

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil, who did not feature in the match, tweeted his support for Welbeck
Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil, who did not feature in the match, tweeted his support for Welbeck

Gunners extend unbeaten run

Sporting ended the game with 10 men when ex-Barcelona defender Jeremy Mathieu was shown a straight red card after fouling Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang when he was clean through on goal - although the hosts could not find a winner.

The result, along with a 1-0 win for Azerbaijani side Qarabag over Vorskla Poltava of Ukraine in the other Group E match, was enough to take the Gunners through to the knockout phase. They join Chelsea in the last 32, who had secured their place in the next stage with a 1-0 away win at BATE Borisov.

Arsenal are fifth in the Premier League, unbeaten in 15 games and have 10 points from their opening four Europa League games.

Emery's side are three points clear of Sporting Lisbon in second and will win the group with victory at Vorskla Poltava on Thursday, 29 November.

After winning their opening three Europa League games, Emery was able to make nine changes from the side that drew 1-1 with Liverpool on Saturday. Only Rob Holding and Henrikh Mkhitaryan kept their places, with Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette, Granit Xhaka and Hector Bellerin left out completely.

Top scorer Aubameyang started on the bench but came on as a first-half substitute for Welbeck.

Aubameyang hit the bar early in the second half and later saw his goal-bound shot blocked by former Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates.

Mathieu was dismissed in the 87th minute for fouling the Gabon striker, who fired the resulting free-kick over the bar.

There was another injury problem for the Gunners in the second half as right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring problem on a mixed day for the club.

A rare off night in front of goal - stats

  • Arsenal failed to score for just the second time under Emery - they also drew a blank against Manchester City in the Spaniard's first game in charge (0-2).
  • Sporting failed to have a shot on target in both matches against the Gunners this season.
  • Excluding qualifiers, Arsenal have kept three consecutive clean sheets in European competition for the first time since the 2007-08 Champions League group stages.
  • Sporting kept their first away clean sheet in the Europa League since September 2011 (2-0 vs FC Zurich), ending a run of 18 games in which they had conceded.
  • Aubameyang had twice as many shots as any other Arsenal player (four), but none were on target.

'Difficult to create big chances' - what they said

Arsenal boss Emery said: "Every match we want the best performance from every player. Some players need to take responsibility and confidence, and there were a lot of positives tonight.

"The point isn't enough for us, but at the moment we are on target to be first in the group.

"Sporting are a very big, competitive team and organised. We needed to be calm.

"It was difficult to create big chances but it wasn't enough to win."

What's next?

Arsenal return to Premier League action on Sunday when they entertain Wolves (16:30 GMT kick-off).

The Gunners are next in Europa League action on 29 November, away at Vorskla Poltava (17:55), with Sporting travelling to play Qarabag at the same time.

Line-ups

Arsenal

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Cech
  • 12LichtsteinerBooked at 21minsSubstituted forMaitland-Nilesat 74'minutes
  • 5Papastathopoulos
  • 16Holding
  • 25JenkinsonSubstituted forKolasinacat 60'minutes
  • 8Ramsey
  • 29GuendouziBooked at 71mins
  • 7Mkhitaryan
  • 55Smith-Rowe
  • 17Iwobi
  • 23WelbeckSubstituted forAubameyangat 30'minutes

Substitutes

  • 11Torreira
  • 14Aubameyang
  • 15Maitland-Niles
  • 20Mustafi
  • 26E Martínez
  • 31Kolasinac
  • 49Nketiah

Sporting

Formation 4-1-4-1

  • 40Ribeiro
  • 76Boialvo GasparBooked at 41mins
  • 4Coates
  • 22MathieuBooked at 87mins
  • 9AcuñaBooked at 67mins
  • 86Gudelj
  • 23DiabySubstituted forBoges Cabralat 83'minutes
  • 8Bruno Fernandes
  • 90Mariz LuísBooked at 74minsSubstituted forPetrovicat 85'minutes
  • 17Almeida da Cunha
  • 10MonteroSubstituted forDostat 69'minutes

Substitutes

  • 5Nascimento
  • 6Almeida Pinto
  • 18Cardoso Mané
  • 19Salin
  • 25Petrovic
  • 28Dost
  • 77Boges Cabral
Referee:
Gediminas Mazeika
Attendance:
59,758

Match Stats

Home TeamArsenalAway TeamSporting
Possession
Home71%
Away29%
Shots
Home14
Away5
Shots on Target
Home2
Away0
Corners
Home7
Away1
Fouls
Home7
Away13

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Arsenal 0, Sporting CP 0.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Arsenal 0, Sporting CP 0.

  3. Post update

    Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Sebastián Coates.

  4. Post update

    Matteo Guendouzi (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  5. Post update

    Foul by Bruno Fernandes (Sporting CP).

  6. Post update

    Offside, Sporting CP. Sebastián Coates tries a through ball, but Bas Dost is caught offside.

  7. Post update

    Foul by Alex Iwobi (Arsenal).

  8. Post update

    Jovane Cabral (Sporting CP) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  9. Post update

    Matteo Guendouzi (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  10. Post update

    Foul by Bas Dost (Sporting CP).

  11. Post update

    Attempt missed. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick.

  12. Dismissal

    Jeremy Mathieu (Sporting CP) is shown the red card.

  13. Post update

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  14. Post update

    Foul by Jeremy Mathieu (Sporting CP).

  15. Substitution

    Substitution, Sporting CP. Radosav Petrovic replaces Miguel Luís.

  16. Substitution

    Substitution, Sporting CP. Jovane Cabral replaces Abdoulaye Diaby.

  17. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Sead Kolasinac.

  18. Post update

    Attempt saved. Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Alex Iwobi.

  19. Post update

    Offside, Sporting CP. Bruno Gaspar tries a through ball, but Abdoulaye Diaby is caught offside.

  20. Post update

    Corner, Sporting CP. Conceded by Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

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Scores, Results & Fixtures

Thursday 8th November 2018

As It Stood

A

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1B Leverkusen430110739
2Zürich43015329
3Ludogorets402235-22
4AEK Larnaca402236-32

B

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1RB Salzburg4400145912
2RB Leipzig42028626
3Celtic420246-26
4Rosenborg4004312-90

C

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Zenit St Petersburg42205328
2Slavia Prague42112117
3FC Copenhagen41213305
4Bordeaux401336-31

D

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Dinamo Zagreb4400113812
2Fenerbahçe42117617
3Spartak Trnava410337-43
4Anderlecht401327-51

E

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Arsenal431082610
2Sporting42114227
3Vorskla Poltava410347-33
4FK Qarabag410316-53

F

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Real Betis42206248
2AC Milan42116427
3Olympiakos42118447
4F91 Dudelange4004111-100

G

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Villarreal413010556
2Spartak Moscow412178-15
3Rangers41218715
4Rapid Vienna411238-54

H

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Frankfurt4400114712
2Lazio43018719
3Marseille401359-41
4Apollon Limassol401359-41

I

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1KRC Genk42118627
2Sarpsborg 0841216605
3Malmö FF41214405
4Besiktas411268-24

J

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1FK Krasnodar43016429
2Sevilla4301155109
3Standard Liege420269-36
4Akhisarspor4004312-90

K

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1FC Astana42207438
2Dynamo Kyiv42209638
3Rennes410348-43
4FK Jablonec402257-22

L

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Chelsea440061512
2MOL Vidi42023306
3PAOK Salonika410345-13
4BATE Borisov410348-43
View full Europa League tables

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