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British broadcaster Piers Morgan reacted to Arsenal getting knocked out of the UEFA Europa League in a penalty shootout loss to Sporting CP on Thursday (16 March)
The first leg between the two sides in Portugal ended in a 2-2 draw and the second leg at the Emirates was 1-1 after 120 minutes. With the score all square after 120 minutes of play, penalties were needed to determine which team would progress to the next stage.
Ruben Amorim's team emerged victorious as Gabriel Martinelli missed his spot kick for the Gunners. Morgan reacted to the defeat as he wrote on Twitter after the north Londoners' elimination from the Europa League:
"Absolutely gutted to be out of a 2nd tier European competition nobody cares about so we can now focus solely on winning the Premier League’ - said no Arsenal fan with even a scintilla of cerebral matter."
Granit Xhaka scored the opener for Arsenal in the second leg at the Emirates in the 19th minute. However, Pedro Goncalves scored an absolute scorcher in the second half to restore parity. Goalkeeper Antonio Adan's spectacular performance kept Sporting in the game before the contest went to penalties.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta reacts to the defeat against Sporting CP
The loss against Sporting was a tough pill to swallow for Arsenal. Despite dominating proceedings during the majority of the match, the Gunners succumbed to a defeat.
Manager Mikel Arteta reacted to the loss, saying (via the Gunners' official website):
"A huge blow. We really wanted to go through and fight in the competition and go for it. Today, we tried for 120 minutes and the penalties, and it wasn’t enough. First of all, congratulations to Sporting CP for going through. Looking at ourselves the game started difficult for us."
"Obviously, we lost Tomi very early in the game and we lost Saliba. That really left us with a difficult in-game management. We only had a window to make the subs, and a few players could not play 90 minutes. But still, we didn’t find our rhythm and our flow."
The loss, though, could be a blessing in disguise for the Gunners as will compete in just one competition for the rest of the season. They are still at the top of the Premier League table with 66 points from 27 games. Arteta's team will return to action on 19 March when they host Crystal Palace in the league.
