Sporting came into Tuesday night with five wins from five at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in this season's Champions League. They had beaten PSG at that ground and they had not lost at home since August.

Within six minutes, Maxi Araujo collected Ousmane Diomande's defence-splitting pass, let fly from range, and David Raya flung himself to his right to tip the effort onto the crossbar. It was the save that kept the tie where it needed to be. Without it, we were behind on a ground where no team had beaten Sporting all season, four days after the FA Cup exit at Southampton, a week after Wembley.

We did not control this game. We were not dominant for long stretches. We arrived in Lisbon carrying two consecutive defeats for the first time this season, and the performance reflected that weight for long periods. The 1-0 and Havertz's name on the scoresheet tell one story. The night itself told another, and both are worth holding at the same time.

The first half produced little beyond those two moments on the woodwork, one at each end. Raya's save in the sixth minute was the defining act of the opening period. Noni Madueke's inswinging corner clipped the bar at the other end, Martin Odegaard dragged the rebound wide, and Arsenal largely failed to threaten Rui Silva after that. Viktor Gyokeres, returning to the club where he scored 97 goals across two seasons, ended the first half with nine touches. Arteta had work to do at the interval.

The second half offered more action without significantly improving Arsenal's attacking output. Odegaard's dipping free kick was pushed over by Silva. Trincao dragged wide when placed well at the other end. Then, in the 63rd minute, Martin Zubimendi's neat finish from the edge of the area was correctly chalked off by VAR for Gyokeres' offside in the build-up. It was the right call, but it illustrated how close Sporting came to landing the first blow.

As the game entered its final quarter, Arteta introduced Max Dowman and Gabriel Martinelli alongside each other in the 76th minute, a double substitution that changed the energy if not immediately the scoreline. Dowman's appearance at 16 years and 97 days old made him the youngest player ever to feature in a Champions League quarter-final, breaking the record Lamine Yamal had held since February 2024. Remarkable in isolation. But the game still needed deciding.

With around seven minutes remaining, Raya was called upon twice in quick succession. He pushed away Geny Catamo's near-post header and then immediately denied Catamo's follow-up before blocking Luis Suarez. Five saves in total across the night, against chances that, on another evening with another goalkeeper, would have cost us at least one goal. Raya simply refused to let them have it.

Then, in the first minute of added time, Martinelli found Havertz bursting through the centre of the box. One touch to control, one composed side-footed finish past Silva. The simplicity of the finish, given the weight of the moment, was not accidental. Havertz has scored in Champions League finals. He finds something in these games that others cannot quite access.

The 1-0 advantage is genuinely valuable rather than cosmetically flattering. Arsenal have now gone unbeaten in the first leg of their last nine European Cup and Champions League quarter-final ties. We go back to the Emirates next Wednesday with a lead to protect and a crowd to use. Sporting have never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of this competition, and they face a task away from home in north London that their squad, however talented, has never previously navigated.

The concern is not the scoreline. It is the performance level. We were not at our best in Lisbon, and a second leg against a side with Sporting's quality will demand considerably more from this team in the final third. Gyokeres barely touched the ball against his former club. That will not happen again.

Raya earned the Player of the Match award, and it was deserved without qualification. Without him, we go to Lisbon and come away with nothing, or worse. The broader point about his importance to this squad barely needs stating at this point, and yet it keeps needing to be stated because the two cup competitions we exited were contested by Kepa.

We are in the semi-final draw's crosshairs. We won in Lisbon with a squad still finding its rhythm after a bruising fortnight. I will take that.