Aaron Ramsdale had a night to forget as Arsenal crashed out of the Europa League on Thursday.
The Gunners were expected to secure their place in the quarter-finals after last week’s 2-2 draw in Portugal.
Granit Xhaka got Mikel Arteta’s side off to the perfect start with a goal in the 19th minute, but Pedro Goncalves’ stunning strike midway through the second half levelled the scores.
Goncalves caught Ramsdale out after shooting from just inside the Arsenal half. In truth, though, there wasn’t an awful lot the England international could have done to prevent the goal.
The strike, from a full 46 yards, was absolutely perfect.
With the teams still tied after 120 minutes, the match subsequently went to penalties.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, Ramsdale failed to save any of the five spot-kicks he faced – though he came agonisingly close on a couple of occasions.
Instead, it was Sporting ‘keeper Antonio Adan who emerged as the hero, saving Gabriel Martinelli’s penalty to help seal his side’s place in Friday’s draw.
Fan footage suggests Ramsdale was looking at notes before facing each penalty, but this still wasn’t enough to help him make a single save.
Ramsdale’s attempt at saving one of the penalties during the shootout has even gone viral on Twitter.
The 24-year-old appeared to be rooted to the spot as Ricardo Esgaio stepped up to take Sporting’s second spot-kick of the shootout.
By the time he reacted by jumping, the ball was already in the beck of the net.
Video: Ramsdale’s attempt to save Sporting penalty goes viral
Watch the peculiar moment here:
Did Ramsdale move too late because he anticipated Esgaio would shoot down the middle?
Perhaps we’ll never know but it was hardly a perfectly-placed penalty by the Sporting player.
Let’s check out some of the reaction from fans:
Will Arsenal’s Europa League exit help them win the Premier League?
Arsenal must now put this disappointment behind them and now fully focus on ending the club’s 19-year wait for a Premier League title.
Asked if Thursday’s Europa League exit could be a blessing in disguise for his side, Arteta told reporters: “I cannot see it that way today. I don’t know, if you go through the competition and win it, it’s magnificent, if it’s not, then it affects your plans in the league, that’s a different story.
“We wanted to go through and we put everything into it, the effort the boys put when it wasn’t our best day, individually and collectively, the hunger and the desire they showed to win, the way they were tracking back was incredible, they really wanted it and today it didn’t happen.
“We need to put our heads up, look towards Crystal Palace, it’s 11 games left, the first one starts on Sunday.”
