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Unai Emery 's six changes to the side that beat Leicester in their last game paid off when Danny Welbeck capitalised on a defensive error in the 77th minute and finished well to hand Arsenal all three points in their top-of-the-table Europa League clash against Sporting CP .
Granit Xhaka started at left-back for the injury stricken Gunners, but the defence was rarely tested by Sporting's forwards.
Clear chances for either side were few and far between, but that won't trouble Arsenal, who won their 11th game in a row in all competitions and hold a commanding lead in Group E.
Show all 11 Sporting vs Arsenal Bernd Leno - 7 Bernd Leno: 7 out of 10 - A fairly quiet night for the German, but he dealt with what he needed to. There were some shaky moments as the Gunners looked to play the ball out from the back in the first half, but Leno and the defence just about got away with them. A clean sheet.
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Sporting vs Arsenal Stephan Lichtsteiner - 7 A quiet night for the Swiss international, who was back at right-back this evening. Nani felt he should have been penalised in the first half after a tussle between the pair in the Arsenal box. The former Juventus man did well to deliver some dangerous crosses when the away side were pressing for an opener in the second half.
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Sporting vs Arsenal Sokratis Papastathopoulos - 6 The centre-back was perhaps lucky to have not been sent off in the first period after a tussle with Fredy Montero. Both he and Holding did well to deny Sporting from creating much in the first half but there were a few unconvincing moments as the away side looked to play out from the back.
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Sporting vs Arsenal Rob Holding - 6 The former Bolton man was guilty of a terrible pass out from the back in the first half which nearly cost his side, but he defended well when he had to. It will be interesting to see if he keeps his place in the Gunners’ league tie with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
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Sporting vs Arsenal Granit Xhaka - 5 It’s fair to say that Granit Xhaka is not a left-back. He wasn’t disastrous tonight, but he didn’t look too comfortable. His set piece delivery was very poor. Unai Emery will be hoping either Nacho Monreal or Sead Kolasinac return to fitness soon.
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Sporting vs Arsenal Aaron Ramsey - 7 Ramsey started in a slightly more withdrawn midfield role tonight and struggled to support striker Aubameyang before the second period. The introduction of Torreira saw him push on. It wasn’t his busiest night, but he didn’t do a lot wrong.
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Sporting vs Arsenal Matteo Guendouzi - 7 The youngster continues to impress. He was particularly influential in the second half. The introduction of Torreira helped him and gave him more license to try and effect the game in the final third.
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Sporting vs Arsenal Mohamed Elneny - 6 Elneny didn’t do a lot to put his case forward for a regular starting spot. He was the first player that Emery chose to withdraw, with his replacement Lucas Torreira having a big effect on the game in the second half.
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Sporting vs Arsenal Henrikh Mkhitaryan - 6 The Armenian was forced into a lot of defensive work in the first half, with Sporting left-back Acuna bursting forward to join the attack whenever he could. Mkhitaryan didn’t look partiulalry keen on having to track back so often, but he did his job. In the attacking third, he had more of an effect on the game in the second half.
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Sporting vs Arsenal Danny Welbeck - 8 The match winner. Welbeck finished well after former Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates made a poor error. He started in a role on the left hand side but got a lot closer to Aubameyang in the second half. His strike tonight was his fifth goal of the season. Not bad.
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Sporting vs Arsenal Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 7 Not the liveliest of evenings for the Gabon striker. He had a couple of good chances to open the scoring in the second half but was denied by Sporting goalkeeper Ribeiro. Will he start against Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday? We shall see.
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