Arsenal v Sporting: Europa League – live! | Soccer

Arsenal substitution: Kolasinac on, Jenkinson off to appreciate claps.

59 min: Aubameyang bangs another one on the sidenetting from a 45 degree angle.

58 min: Solid defending by Sporting to stop Mkhitaryan from breaking through. Nani collects the ball on the edge of his own box and carries it forward to the edge of Arsenal's before Lichtsteiner puts an end to his mischief.

57 min: Ramsey nips has possible Sporting breakaway in the bud with a good sliding tackle on Diaby.

54 min: Smith-Rowe flies down the left and skitters into the box. Then he hangs up a useful cross toward Aubameyang, who gets a header on it but not a clean one. The ball skims off the top of his head and drops wide.

51 min: News on Welbeck has been taken to hospital for an x-ray.

48 min: Sporting raid to the heart of Diaby, whose volley clatters into the arm of Jenkinson, who was just a yard away. No penalty.

47 min: Jenkinson tests a volleyed blaster from 30 yards, following on from his wayward drive from similar range in the first half. This one was even farther off the target, as he actually hit it backwards towards the halfway line. Third time lucky?

46 min: Off we go again most of the Arsenal fans have regained their seats. Thy nearly missed the breakthrough goal, Aubameyang goal fired into the sidenetting after a cross by Mkhitaryan.

It's been dull. Arsenal have been dominated by the sporting team. The half-heartedness of a welbecker, who was walking in the face of a painter .

45 + 3 min: Aubameyang dinks over a tasty cross from the right. Lichtsteiner can not get a firm header on it.

45 + 1 min: There will be more than one stoppage of time, most of it to the injury to the unfortunate Welbeck.

43 min: Sporting looked to be enjoying a rare bit of possession until played in a sloppy pass in midfield. Mkhitaryan sprinted forward before being shunted to the ground by Acuna. Freekick to Arsenal wide on the right.

39 min: Lichtsteiner has a blast of long range and gets nowhere near the goal.

38 min: Guendouzi plays a lovely ball between two defenders to release Lichtsteiner down the right. The cross by the Swiss is cleared.

36 min: Ramsey, very involved in Arsenal 's attacks, wins a corner, which is then taken short to him. But his cross is poor.

33 min: Sporting remain very disciplined as Arsenal continues to pass through the world.

29 min: After several minutes of treatment on the pitch, Welbeck is carried away from the field on a stretcher. The crowd singing and applaud loudly, Nani, Welbeck's form Man United teammate, who is enjoying the game, who clasps it appreciatively. No replay has been shown so it 's hard to guess at what the injury might be – a damaged ankle seems most likely – but there are obviously fears that it could be quite serious.

25 min: Lichtsteiner bends over a cross from the right. Welbeck produces another fine leap and sends his header to 10 yards towards the target. But it's a routine save for the keeper. And Welbeck hurt himself badly on the way down. Without a replay it's not clear what happened but he's in real pain. Stretcher-bearers have been summoned.

24 min: Arsenal continues to dominate and groove that's bothering the visitors.

21 min: Nani beats two Arsenal defenders for old time's sake near half-way. Lichtsteiner, miffed, takes him out with a scissors tackle. The yellow card.

20 min: Freekick to Arsenal Lichtsteiner fools a defender into a foul. Mkhitaryan's delivery is headed by Welbeck.

18 min: Guendouzi, after a one-two with Ramsey, fires over a wicked low cross from the right. Mathieu, under pressure from Welbeck, sends it spinning towards his own goal from five yards. A goal to defender gets back to what it off the line!

17 minSmith-Rowe, who sets off a sprint down the right. Aim Acuna chases him and gets the ball back.

16 min: Smith-Rowe shuffles his feet to make room for a shot from the edge of the box, but then sends his effort skyward. Not what I meant when I suggested the game needs to take off.

14 min: This match has not quite taken off yet. It's all very low key.

12 min: Mkhitaryan wriggles in a cross for Welbeck, but it's diverted behind for a corner.

10 minutes: Sporting attack down the right, Gasper giving Diaby a chance to outrun Jenkinson. But he was too fast for his teammates, too, so there was no one available to convert his low cross.

8 min: Iwobi releases Welbeck on the left with a fetching ball. Welbeck's cross is not so good but he does win a corner. Arsenal take it to the next corner of Jenksinson. It sails into the stands.

7 min: Jenkinson, raiding forward from left-back, sends a cross towards the spotlight but there's no one there to meet it.

5 min: Guendouzi is caught dawdling on the ball at the edge of his home by two sharp Sporting players. Sokratis manages to clear the danger. Moments later, at the other end, Welbeck loads the balloon, sending the ball out for a throw-in at the corner flag. So some early sluggishness at the back by both sides.

3 min: Nani's first involvement ends with him being tripped in his own half by Ramsey.

2 min: Arsenal have monopolized possession so far not made inroads into the opposition, who are deployed in a good old-fashioned 4-4-2 formation.

1 min: Sporting, wearing an all-gray kit with bright lime numbers, take kickoff and lose ball in five seconds.

The teams file out of the tunnel and on the pitch. They are greeted by warm applause by the home fans and some boisterous chanting from the away section. The attendance looks to be close to capacity.

Other interesting results so far today: Rangers lost 4-3 at Spartak Moscow despite leading three times. Steve Gerrad's side did not have a man off, for once. Elsewhere, Chelsea won 1-0 at Bate Borisov, Lazio beat Marseille 2-1 and Dynamo Kyiv tonked Rennes 3-1.

"A Portuguese born Londoner here," announces Tiago Marques. "Sportinguista since childhood and adopted Arsenal early on during my upbringing. Very surreal experience to witness a match between the two teams I support! Would be lying if I said I had not been waiting for this for years now. Regardless, I just hope it's a cracker of a match! Win-win for me in the end. "Are you writing from the stadium? Are there many people like you? I'm guessing there must be at least a few. Enjoy!

Arsenal: Cech; Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Holding, Jenkinson; Guendouzi, Ramsey; Mkhitaryan, Iwobi, Smith-Rowe; Welbeck

Subs: Martinez, Mustafa, Kolisinac, Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Nketiah, Aubameyang

Sporting: Ribeiro; Bruno Gaspar, Coates, Mathieu, Acuna; Nani, Gudelj, Miguel Luis, Bruno Fernandes; Diaby, Montero

Subs: Salin, Pinto, Jefferson. Dost, Mané, Cabral, Petrovic

Referee: G Mazelka (Lithuania)

Today's plan, as far as Unai Emery is concerned, is for Arsenal to confirm their progress to the next round of the Europa League as they win their winners by beating their closest rivals, Sporting. Arsenal have already gone down to the Portuguese in Lisbon thanks to a goal by Danny Welbeck, so much so that they would make a head start at the top of the group by dint of their head-to-head record. Then they could have a chance of losing their lives if they wanted to, but it would be a shame to get away from an epic unbeaten record if it was still intact by then – they could stretch it to 15 matches today.

Sporting are third in their domestic league but will be confident of advancing in this tournament even if they lose today. But a positive result would be a Vorskla and Qarabag. Despite their European pedigree, they have been historically weak in England – except, that is, in the north-east of the country, where, in the distant past, they have beaten Newcastle and Middlesbrough (they're also knocked out of Sunderland). The 1973 Winners' Cup Winning Cup at Roker Park) so it was about time.