{"id":1155,"date":"2026-04-08T15:03:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=1155"},"modified":"2026-04-08T15:03:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:03:57","slug":"forget-raya-99-touch-star-was-arsenals-unsung-hero-vs-sporting-read-arsenal-f-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=1155","title":{"rendered":"Forget Raya, 99-touch star was Arsenal&#8217;s unsung hero vs Sporting &#8211; Read Arsenal F.C."},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>At a Glance:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Arsenal scored a 91st minute winner away at Sporting CP in the Champions League on Tuesday night.<\/li>\n<li>David Raya won the man of the match award for his excellent performance.<\/li>\n<li>However, another Arsenal star deserves credit for his display.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p><strong>Arsenal snatched a 1-0 win away at Sporting CP in the Champions League on Tuesday night in Lisbon, and David Raya is rightly garnering plaudits for his contribution to Mikel Arteta\u2019s side\u2019s victory.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The clash at the Jose Alvalade stadium was cagey for long periods, with both teams struggling to create clear-cut opportunities. However, in the dying embers, Gabriel Martinelli drove inside, clipped a delightful pass into Kai Havertz, who slotted beyond Rui Silva to send the Gunners\u2019 away end into raptures.<\/p>\n<p>Raya was the standout performer for Arsenal, making a handful of outstanding saves to preserve the North Londoners\u2019 clean sheet. That said, there was arguably an even greater performer for the Gunners on the day, whose display isn\u2019t getting the recognition it deserves.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p>\n          <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Havertz Snatches First Leg Lead \ud83d\udd34 | Sporting CP 0-1 Arsenal | UEFA Champions League Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ij2QUCFc9Do?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n        <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">William Saliba was outstanding in Sporting vs Arsenal<\/h2>\n<p>While Raya produced the most eye-catching Arsenal moments in Lisbon, aside from Havertz\u2019s winner, there were several outfield players who produced steady performances that merit credit \u2013 none more so than William Saliba.<\/p>\n<p>The Frenchman was deployed next to his usual partner in crime, Gabriel Magalhaes, although he also had a rusty Ben White on the outside of him. Sporting targeted White\u2019s side throughout, persistently launching long balls down Arsenal\u2019s right. Rui Borges had clearly identified that this was an area of weakness for the Gunners, and he looked to exploit it.<\/p>\n<p>However, Saliba\u2019s imperious athleticism and outstanding ability to read the game meant that Sporting were only able to get so much joy from this avenue of attack. The 25-year-old was flawless defensively throughout, making key interventions at pivotal times.<\/p>\n<p>On the ball, he was Arsenal\u2019s technical leader. Starting attacks with cute line-breaking passes and manoeuvring out of tight spaces with his immaculate close control, he was the heartbeat of the Gunners\u2019 build-up.<\/p>\n<p>While many players were laborious in possession, Saliba\u2019s passing had a pace and urgency to it, which indicated that he wasn\u2019t content emerging from Portugal with just a draw.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">William Saliba statistics vs Sporting<\/h2>\n<p>Not only did Saliba sparkle on the eye test, but the data also reflects how excellent he was.<\/p>\n<p>The defender managed 99 touches, more than anyone else on the pitch, whilst he also completed 96% of his 92 attempted passes. He was constantly on the ball in deep areas, dictating Arsenal\u2019s build-up patterns.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table class=\"has-fixed-layout\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\">William Saliba vs Sporting Statistics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Minutes Played<\/td>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">90<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Touches<\/td>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">99<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Defensive Contributions<\/td>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Accurate Passes<\/td>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">88\/92 (96%)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Passes into Final Third<\/td>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Tackles<\/td>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Clearances<\/td>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Aerial Duels Won<\/td>\n<td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">2\/2 (100%)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><strong>All Statistics via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fotmob.com\/en-GB\/matches\/sporting-cp-vs-arsenal\/36af66#5205795\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FotMob<\/a> \u2013 correct as of 04\/04\/2025<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Defensively, he made six contributions and dominated in the air. Nothing got past him.<\/p>\n<p>This was an inspired Saliba performance, with the France international clearly looking reenergised after enjoying a two-week rest over the international break. He\u2019s essential to Arsenal. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At a Glance: Arsenal scored a 91st minute winner away at Sporting CP in the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}