Arsenal have avoided being knocked out of two competitions in one night beating Porto in a penalty shoot-out in their Champions League round-of-16 tie.
The Gunners need to win the Champions League in order to qualify for the revamped Club World Cup tournament to be hosted this summer.
And they’re still in with a chance of playing in the Club World Cup as they kept their Champions League hopes alive with a dramatic win over Porto.
Arsenal left themselves with plenty of work to do after a disappointing first leg away in Portugal last month.
Arsenal beat Porto on penalties
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The Gunners dominated possession in Porto before being stunned in stoppage time with a goal from Galeno to give the Portuguese side the advantage.
Despite the setback, Arsenal were always going to fancy their chances more at home in the second leg.
But Porto more than matched Arsenal in the early exchanges with Mikel Arteta’s side struggling to create clear-cut chances.
There was a sense of relief inside the Emirates though when Leandro Trossard found the bottom corner after creating his own opportunity inside the box minutes before the break.
With the tie finely poised, both teams were wary of pushing too far forward to leave them exposed at the back.
Porto were set up to frustrate Arsenal and threatened on several occasions on the counter, but the defensive duo of William Saliba and Gabriel stood firm while David Raya pulled off a couple of important saves to keep the scores level.
Arsenal thought they had taken the lead in the tie for the first time when Martin Odegaard put the ball in the net after Kai Havertz battled for the ball with Pepe.
Havertz and Pepe ended up colliding with Diogo Costa, leaving an empty net for Odegaard to put the ball into.
However, the referee blew up for a foul on Havertz on Pepe with replays suggesting the Arsenal forward had tugged at his opponent’s shirt.
Leandro Trossard had brought Arsenal level in the tie
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That proved to be the last major chance of the 90 minutes with extra time needed to try and find a winner.
There was plenty of caution from both teams in the first half of extra time with neither side wary of making a mistake.
Arsenal settled more in the second period of 15 minutes with Porto sitting back and soaking up the pressure.
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David Raya was the hero on the night for Arsenal
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Bukayo Saka had a half chance when slipped through by Eddie Nketiah, but the England international was closed down before getting his shot away.
Neither side was able to find a breakthrough in the end with penalties needed to separate the two teams.
David Raya then stepped up to become the hero for Arsenal on the night as he saved two efforts to send the Gunners through and spark wild celebrations inside the stadium.
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