Arsenal came agonisingly close to progressing to the quarter finals of the Europa League, after crashing out of the competition on penalties to Sporting Lisbon.

A first half goal from Granit Xhaka was cancelled out by an utterly superb finish from Pedro Goncalves which forced the match to extra time and penalties.

It was a high energy tie with little to separate the two sides who went toe-to-toe both in Portugal and at the Emirates.

A missed penalty in the shoot-out from Gabriel Martinelli ultimately settled the tie, Mikel Arteta reacted to his sides exit from the competition speaking to the media after the game.

“A huge blow. We really wanted to go through and fight in the competition and go for it. Today, we tried for 120 minutes and the penalties, and it wasn’t enough. Congratulations to Sporting CP for going through. Looking at ourselves the game started difficult for us.”

Sporting deserved great credit for their ability to answer any questions asked from Arsenal, it was a high-intensity tie from start to finish.

It was an expensive tie to lose for Arsenal, not just in terms of European success but the price of injury too.

The Gunners were forced to make two early substitutions due to injuries to both Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba, Arteta spoke on the injuries after the game:

“Tomiyasu looks pretty serious, for his reaction straight away and what he said to me. Obviously, it’s very early and difficult to know. William, I don’t know. He had some discomfort and could not carry on, so we had to take him off.”

The injuries are a worry with two fantastic members of the squad being hurt with eleven games left in the season.

The injury to Saliba is a huge concern, a player that has been integral in central defence for Arsenal this season.

Now that the tie is over, all focus turns to the Premier League, where Arsenal have eleven games to go to try and produce something spectacular come May.

Arteta spoke on the importance of focus on the remainder of the campaign despite disappointment last night:

“We need to put our heads up, look towards Crystal Palace, it’s 11 games left, the first one starts on Sunday. That’s the only focus that we have and everybody is thinking about one thing, that’s Palace, and being in the best mental and physical condition, a lot of clarity and all the energy is there for Sunday.”

The Gunners sit five points clear of Manchester City, and with games coming fast with talented opposition, it really is now or never for this Arsenal side who have been impeccable this season.

Arsenal host Crystal Palace at the Emirates on Sunday at 2pm.