Arsenal with a last-minute win at Sporting: Kai Havertz is a phenomenon – Sport

It was entirely in keeping with the team spirit embodied by Kai Havertz that he focused on his Arsenal teammates after his winning goal. In an interview after the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League at Sporting Lisbon, the German international praised his assist provider Gabriel Martinelli and the excellent saves from goalkeeper David Raya. But the real phenomenon was Havertz himself, who lived up to his reputation for always meeting people when it seemed particularly important. Arsenal had already benefited from this a round earlier, when the offensive player saved a draw against his former club Bayer Leverkusen by converting a penalty. And now again.

With his goal in the first minute of injury time, Havertz secured a redeeming 1-0 win for the Gunners in cold, wet Lisbon on Tuesday evening. Although the victory didn’t make the semi-finals perfect, it at least made it much more likely. After all, Sporting’s away appearances this season cannot be compared to their home performances: before the Arsenal game, the Portuguese had won all their games in the premier class in front of their own crowd, including the one against defending champions Paris. The situation was correspondingly unpleasant for Arsenal: despite London’s superiority in ball possession, Sporting could have taken the lead. Arsenal, on the other hand, only threatened once in the first half when Noni Madueke hit a corner directly against the crossbar.

The positive result represents “a big turning point,” as Havertz explained, as the previous two matches had been lost – the League Cup final against Manchester City and, most recently, the quarter-final of the FA Cup against second division Southampton. These two defeats meant that the Premier League leaders, who have not won a league title since 2004 and have never won the Champions League, once again raised fears of buckling in key situations. Only one player in the Arsenal squad has already won the English league – striker Gabriel Jesus with Manchester City – and so far only Havertz and substitute keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga have won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021.

In this context, Havertz’s strong nerves, which he has already demonstrated as the winning goal scorer in the Champions League and Club World Cup finals, are of particular value. Against Sporting, he took a precise half-court cross from Martinelli at the penalty spot so skillfully with his right foot that it looked as if he was taming it – and then tipped the ball into the goal with his left in one fluid movement. The genius was that Havertz found a gap to get the ball past goalkeeper Rui Silva, who was right in front of him. It looked like he had pushed the soccer ball through a golf ball hole. “He loves the big occasions, the big games,” said coach Mikel Arteta appreciatively.

“I was just there to finish it,” says Havertz

In the four premier class games this calendar year, Havertz scored four goals. After various injury setbacks, which only allowed him to make a few appearances for twelve months, Havertz has been steadily improving his form for weeks. His freshness could give Arsenal a significant advantage – because no other top club in Europe currently has such an underused trump card as Havertz. Especially since the 26-year-old can be used in any position, depending on where Arsenal needs him on the pitch.

In the duel with the Portuguese, Havertz came on as a substitute in the 71st minute – for playmaker Martin Odegaard. He therefore played slightly behind centre-forward Viktor Gyökeres, who moved from Sporting to the Gunners last summer. Although both were only on the pitch together sporadically, they harmonized like a well-rehearsed duo in the decisive scene: Gyökeres drew both central defenders towards him with a clever run, Havertz recognized the gap and called for the pass with his arm after Martinelli had shaken off two opponents with a start. “About 80 percent of the goal belongs to him. I was just there to finish it,” said Havertz.

Havertz did not go into further detail about his own contribution. Instead, he gave credit to goalkeeper Raya, whose reflexes ensured the win. The Spaniard is “still underestimated,” said Havertz. From his point of view, Raya has been one of the best goalkeepers in the world for two years. In the early stages, he spectacularly directed a powerful shot from Sporting’s Maximiliano Araújo onto the crossbar with his fingertips. Due to his height of 1.83 meters, which is small for a goalkeeper, he is one of the most agile goalkeepers, which also benefited him against Sporting when he made several saves against the direction in which he was running. Raya is currently considered the strongest goalkeeper on the ball.

His importance for the team only recently became clear again in the two national cup defeats – because he didn’t play. Deputy Kepa received preference in each case, but did not reach the level of number one. For his performance in Lisbon, Raya was ultimately named the best player of the game. Kai Havertz probably also liked this choice.