The team lose 0-1 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter final

Sporting Clube de Portugal lost 0-1 to Arsenal in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter final, conceding in stoppage time to a goal by Kai Havertz for the Premier League leaders.

The team took to the pitch with six changes to their starting XI, as Georgios Vagiannidis, Zeno Debast, Eduardo Quaresma, Ricardo Mangas, Daniel Bragança and Rafael Nel made way for the incoming Iván Fresneda, Ousmane Diomande, Gonçalo Inácio, Maxi Araújo, João Simões and Luis Suárez.

Sporting CP made an almost perfect start to the game. From their first real attack, just 6 minutes in, Ousmane Diomande found Maxi Araújo with a wonderful trivela pass, and the Uruguayan's shot hit the crossbar after Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya managed to get a touch on it.

Rui Borges' team took advantage of the momentum to continue to attack. After a free-kick by Francisco Trincão that hit the wall, Maxi Araújo shot wide. A good effort from Geny Catamo on the right followed, but Raya also managed to save it.

Known for their quality from set pieces, Arsenal threatened with a free kick from Martin Ødegaard, but Diomande cleared it. From the resulting corner, Noni Madueke's shot hit the crossbar and Ødegaard shot wide on the rebound.

The game began to calm down, and until halftime there were only two shots taken with real intent: One by Diomande from distance, which went wide, and another from Ødegaard which was safely saved by Rui Silva.

Following a goalless first half, Arsenal continued to have more possession after the break, and tried to create danger through Leandro Trossard and Ødegaard, who both had strikes.

For Sporting CP, a clever move ended with Araújo setting up Francisco Trincão, who shot across goal and slightly wide. 

In the 62nd minute, Borges replaced João Simões with Daniel Bragança.

Arsenal had the ball in the net through Martin Zubimendi, but referee Daniel Siebert disallowed the goal due to an offside by Viktor Gyökeres, the returning former Sporting CP player. The Swede himself tested Rui Silva in the 67th minute, but the goalkeeper made the save.

Sporting CP improved throughout the second half. In the 78th minute, Catamo narrowly missed the target. Then an exceptional run by Luis Suárez on the right produced a cross for Geny Catamo to head the ball towards goal, forcing a great save from Raya.

Catamo again caused panic among the Gunners' defence in the 87th minute, when he finished off a counterattack with a shot that was blocked by Raya. Luis Suárez tried to follow up, but was also thwarted by the visiting goalkeeper.

The twist in the tale came late on, when in the 90+2 minute, Kai Havertz found himself one-on-one with Rui Silva and stroked the ball into the net, giving Arsenal a harsh advantage on the night and in the tie.

Before the second leg in London on April 15th, Sporting CP play CF Estrela da Amadora in Liga Portugal on Sunday night.

Sporting CP: Rui Silva [GK], Iván Fresneda, Ousmane Diomande, Gonçalo Inácio [C], Maxi Araújo, Hidemasa Morita, João Simões (Daniel Bragança, 62'), Geny Catamo, Francisco Trincão, Pedro Gonçalves (Rafael Nel, 79') and Luis Suárez.