Vitoria SC 1-1 Arsenal: Duarte's stunning strike denies Gunners at the death

Unai Emery's Arsenal was on the brink of securing a place in the Europa League knockouts until Vitoria SC's Bruno Duarte stunning injury-time strike.

Published : Nov 07, 2019 00:18 IST

Action from the Europa League clash between Vitoria SC and Arsenal.
Action from the Europa League clash between Vitoria SC and Arsenal.
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Action from the Europa League clash between Vitoria SC and Arsenal.

An injury-time equaliser from Bruno Duarte sealed a 1-1 draw for Vitoria SC against Arsenal on Wednesday and stopped the Gunners from qualifying for the last 32 of the Europa League.

The visitor looked set to claim a win that would have guaranteed its place in the knockouts when Shkodran Mustafi headed in Nicolas Pepe's free-kick 10 minutes from time.

However, Duarte's acrobatic finish denied Unai Emery's side from claiming a fourth win in as many European games this season and means it must wait a little longer to secure a place in the next round.

It was nearly much worse for Arsenal, which saw Mustafi deflect a cross onto the post before Rochinha rifled a half-volley wide in the closing moments of a rain-soaked encounter in Guimaraes.

Vitoria's Pepe blasted a shot off the post with eight minutes gone and Emiliano Martinez made a smart one-handed save to deny Marcus Edwards from just outside the box, as the host set about trying to test the Arsenal keeper in the wet conditions.

Martinez was again called into action to parry Edmond Tapsoba's header away before Rob Holding missed the best of Arsenal's early chances by nodding over Bukayo Saka's cross. Davidson curled a shot just wide of the right-hand post as Vitoria continued to threaten, with Edwards failing to make the most of a promising run into the box early in the second half.

The Gunners suffered a blow when Dani Ceballos pulled up with an apparent hamstring problem, with Matteo Guendouzi brought on to replace him, but the change actually sparked the visitor into taking control of proceedings, even if goalscoring chances eluded it.

That was until the 80th minute, when Mustafi rose unmarked to head Nicolas Pepe's free-kick into the bottom-left corner and celebrated what looked set to be the winner.

However, Duarte snatched an equaliser with a fine bicycle kick from six yards out and Vitoria was unlucky not to snatch a winner, with Mustafi deflecting the ball on to the base of the right-hand post before Rochinha's clever volley missed Martinez's goal by a few inches.

What does it mean? Vitoria clinging on as Gunners close on knockouts

The draw puts Arsenal on 10 points at the top of Group F and its place in the knockouts will be confirmed on Thursday if Eintracht Frankfurt beats Standard Liege. That result would also spell the end of Vitoria's European campaign, as it has only one point from four matches.

Martinez responds after poor Anfield showing

Martinez had a bit of a nightmare in the 5-5 EFL Cup draw with Liverpool in his last outing, but this was a far more assured performance in tricky conditions. His save from Edwards was particularly impressive.

Maitland-Niles fails to fire

Ainsley Maitland-Niles, deployed as a right wing-back, too often allowed Vitoria to make inroads down his flank while offering little attacking support to Nicolas Pepe. His apparent lack of concentration was highlighted when he was ordered off the pitch in the first half to remove a gold necklace he was still wearing.

What's next?

Arsenal faces a tough Premier League trip to Leicester City on Saturday, while Vitoria hosts Braga in top-flight action on Sunday.

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