Arsenal 1-0 Atletico Madrid (agg 2-1): Saka 44
Bukayo Saka scored late in the first half and Arsenal held on to secure a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, advancing to the Champions League final for the first time since 2006.
The Gunners had an impressive first half, pushing aggressively in front of their home fans. Atletico showed some early threat, Antoine Griezmann finding space twice in the first 15 minutes and Julian Alvarez shooting wide under pressure from Gabriel Magalhaes, but Arsenal controlled possession, even if they struggled to break the visitors down.
Their first clear chance came midway into the half when Viktor Gyokeres ran through and unloaded, but Jan Oblak smothered the shot. Then Arsenal took the lead. William Saliba’s pass up the inside-right channel to Gyokeres had Oblak in two minds about whether or not to come off his line.
Gyokeres squared to Leandro Trossard on the far side, who cut inside and shot from 15 yards. Oblak parried the ball into the six-yard box and Saka reacted first, tapping in from close range.
Atletico came in full force in the second half and Arsenal were obliged to sit deeper, a comfortable strategy for the defence-heavy team. The visitors’ best chance came midway into the half when Griezmann forced a low save from Raya. Marc Pubill followed up but was called for a foul on Gabriel.
Arsenal nearly made it 2-0 with 15 minutes to go in normal time when substitute Piero Hincapie crossed from the left and found Gyokeres, but then the striker’s first-time shot from 10 yards flew over the crossbar. It didn’t matter because they would be celebrating shortly afterwards
