3 positives and negatives from Arsenal's brilliant Champions League win in Lisbon

Positive #3: Mikel Arteta gets it right

The boss seems to know what he is doing; who knew?

Many had questioned him during the Odegaard injury layoff and took aim at his pragmatic ways, with some even positing that a defence-first approach denoted his morphing into José Mourinho (it could be worse).

However, the attack looked just fine in Lisbon and fired Arsenal to their biggest away win in the UCL in 21 years, while it was also the first time since 2008 that the Gunners have scored five in a Champions League away match.      

It did not come at the expense of any backline solidity either, with Sporting rarely posing a serious threat to Raya and the in-form Viktor Gyokeres mostly limited to half-chances/long-range efforts, even if he did hit the post at one point.

Clinical up front and strong at the back; you cannot ask for more than that.

Negative #3: Where has this been?

Apologies for all the negative energy, but where has this Arsenal team been for the past two months?

Okay, injuries are a big factor, bad luck has weighed in at times (e.g. Mikel Merino handball vs Inter) and getting three red cards in our first eight Premier League matches probably did not help the Gunners' cause.

But that sort of adversity is, to some extent, expected at this level and cannot be allowed to have the extreme impact it has made on our campaign thus far. The big teams with big resources and trophy dreams should not be utterly derailed by ill fortune.

Arsenal proved here just how good they are when at their strongest and, given their tough domestic situation, one can only hope the players maintain their fitness over the coming weeks, especially with the Christmas schedule ahead.

Our season depends on it.

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