Arsenal are into the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time since 2010 after beating Porto 4-2 on penalties at the Emirates.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, the Premier League leaders levelled the contest on aggregate through Leandro Trossard’s first-half strike but neither side could find an overall winner in the 90 minutes or extra time.
But goalkeeper David Raya made two excellent saves in the shootout – in front of Arsenal’s exuberant active supporters – to seal victory for the Gunners.
The goalkeeper pulled off a brilliant save to deny Wendell and repeated the feat against Galeno, while the home side converted all four of their penalties.
“I should have saved three! I should have saved another one,” Raya said.
“It’s just crazy. It’s a crazy moment.”
It is the first Champions League match to go to penalties since the 2016 final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
The match was tense and heated, with both coaches receiving yellow cards, before tensions boiled over after the final whistle as players had to be be dragged apart.
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The Gunners came into the match with 33 goals in their past eight league games — a winning run that has rocketed them to the top of the Premier League.
But Sergio Conceicao’s men succeeded in frustrating the home team for long periods in the first half, fashioning enough chances of their own make it a nervy night for the expectant fans.
Porto, who were last crowned European champions under Jose Mourinho in 2004, had a number of openings.
Evanilson whipped a shot at goal from distance that bounced wide and minutes later struck a rising strike that Raya palmed away.
Declan Rice headed just wide and Pepe — the first 41-year-old to play outfield in the Champions League — got the deftest of touches with his head to prevent Kai Havertz from connecting with a White cross at the back post.
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The breakthrough finally came in the 41st minute following good work from Odegaard, who jinked past an opponent and fed Trossard with a perfectly weighted low pass into the box.
Trossard calmly hit a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Diogo Costa and into the far corner of the net to ease the tension.
Arsenal thought they had doubled their lead midway through the second half when Odegaard dinked the ball into an empty net but the goal was ruled out for a foul by Havertz on Pepe.
Moments later Porto streamed forward and Raya blocked Francisco Conceicao’s shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Arteta threw on Gabriel Jesus in the 83rd minute and the former Manchester City man nearly scored with his first touch.
As Arsenal pushed for a winner, Bukayo Saka produced a trademark curling effort that was punched back into the middle and Odegaard steered the rebound wide when well-placed.
The home side looked the more dangerous in the early stages of extra-time but Porto remained a threat on the break, with substitute Mehdi Taremi curling wide.
Arteta brought on Eddie Nketiah and Oleksandr Zinchenko for the second period of extra time but neither side could find a winner and it went to penalties
BARCA RETURN TO QUARTERS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2020
Barcelona survived a nervy second half to beat Napoli 3-1 on Tuesday and reach the Champions League quarter-finals 4-2 on aggregate.
Xavi Hernandez’s side came flying out of the blocks with goals from Fermin Lopez and Joao Cancelo but after Amir Rrahmani pulled one back, the Catalans started to sweat.
Italian champions Napoli, who salvaged a 1-1 draw in the last-16 first leg, were finally beaten when Robert Lewandowski swept home from close range.
It is the first time five-time winners Barcelona have reached the last eight of the competition since 2020, and they did so without injured midfield trio Pedri, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong.
“We’re in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after four years, it’s the moment to enjoy that,” Barca coach Xavi told Movistar.
“We played a great game, the team gave everything, we dominated in many moments … (I’m) very proud.”
Xavi said he was leaving at the end of the season in January and his team have gone on a run of nine games without defeat after that decision.
Teenage stars Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi have been key to that form, and both excelled against Napoli on a night which offered some relief to Barcelona amid a bleak season.
Centre-back Cubarsi, 17, got the better of Napoli forward Victor Osimhen. “He’s incredible, he was the game’s best player,” Sergi Roberto told Movistar. “He doesn’t stop surprising us, in the last 16 and playing this way, he’s a player who can be here for his whole life.” Barcelona became the first team in the competition’s history to start two players 17 or under in a knockout stage game.
Xavi demanded the fans turn their temporary Olympic Stadium home on the city’s Montjuic hill into a pressure cooker, and they duly obliged. Over 50,000 spectators marked the club’s largest attendance this season.
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