Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta reviews Sporting Lisbon

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Pedro Porro was jubilant as his former club Sporting CP dumped Arsenal out of the Europa League on Thursday. The Lisbon giants progressed on penalties after a thrilling encounter at the Emirates Stadium, profiting from Gabriel Martinelli’s miss.

Kim Kardashian watching Europa League football from a box wasn’t the most surprising sight in north London as Arsenal hosted Sporting.

That honour went to Pedro Goncalves, who scored an astonishing chip just past the halfway line to cancel out Granit Xhaka’s first-half opener.

After the two sides were level at 3-3 at the 210-minute mark, Sporting were ruthless from the spot, netting all five efforts in the shoot-out to win 5-4.

And Porro, who joined Spurs on loan from the Portuguese outfit in January, humoured fans by expressing his delight at the outcome on social media.

Accompanied by no less than 12 green love hearts, the 23-year-old right-back, translated to congratulations, wrote: “Parabens @Sporting_CP.”

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Tottenham have an obligation to buy Porro for £39million in the summer transfer window, and his social media activity has instantly increased his popularity among the fanbase.

The Spaniard made 98 appearances for Sporting after initially joining on loan from Manchester City in 2020. He made the switch permanent last summer.

Porro registered 12 goals and 20 assists in Lisbon, lifting the Primeira Liga in 2021 along with two Taca da Ligas.

He earned his first and only cap for Spain in March 2021, playing in a 2-1 win against Georgia in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Arsenal’s crushing Europa League exit was worsened by early injury scares to defensive duo Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba.

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And Arteta has confirmed that Tomiyasu could be dealing with a ‘serious’ issue based on his immediate reaction and feedback.

He said: “Tomiyasu looks pretty serious from his reaction straight away and what he said to me, but it’s very early and very difficult to know.

“Willy [Saliba], I don’t know. He had some discomfort, and he could not carry on, so we had to take him out.”

Arsenal host managerless Crystal Palace at the Emirates on Sunday, where moving eight points clear at the Premier League summit would go a long way in soothing the blow.

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