Arsenal knock out Real Madrid to reach Champions League semi-finals
Arsenal beat Real Madrid 2-1 on Wednesday, with winger Gabriel Martinelli scoring a late winner for the English team. Madrid’s increasingly slim hopes were dashed when Mbappé limped off field with an ankle injury with 15 minutes remaining after a clash with Declan Rice
Arsenal staved off Champions League holders Real Madrid’s superstars and rich history of unlikely comebacks to snatch a 2-1 victory on Wednesday, April 16, and reach the semi-finals with a superb 5-1 aggregate triumph. The Gunners’ 3-0 quarter-final first leg triumph last week gave them a vital cushion in the Spanish capital as they made the final four for the first time since 2009, where they will face Paris Saint-Germain.
Bukayo Saka, who missed a first-half penalty, sent Arsenal ahead and although Vinicius Junior leveled the 15-time winners were never close to making up the deficit. Gabriel Martinelli rubbed salt in their wounds with a stoppage-time winner for Arsenal, who have never lifted the Champions League trophy.
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Los Blancos, far more brittle than when they won a Champions League and La Liga double last season, were convinced they could turn the game around but created too little against Arsenal’s tight defense. The Premier League side held their nerve to reach the semi-finals for only the third time in their history.
Kylian Mbappé chested in a goal in the opening stages but was clearly offside, with the forward gesturing to the crowd to turn up the volume to create the fabled aura that helps Madrid pull off near-impossible feats at the Santiago Bernabeu. David Alaba was booked for hacking down Saka as Madrid tried to add the grit they badly lacked in their first leg demolition in London, and the Arsenal winger also had a drive fielded well by Thibaut Courtois.