"The way he picked up the ball looked suspicious to me" - Thierry Henry explains why he didn't watch Arsenal's final penalty save against Porto
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry claims he was confident about David Raya's final penalty save in the Round of 16 Champions League win over Porto on Tuesday night, March 12.
The Gunners came into the game 1-0 down after the first leg in Portugal. However, Leandro Trossard scored the second leg's only goal in the 41st minute, with the game eventually needing penalties to decide the winners.
During the shootout, Raya produced his first save from Wendell's penalty, which was the Portuguese outfit's second attempt. Meanwhile, the Gunners had already scored twice to give their side a lead in the shootout.
Arsenal converted two more from as many attempts and needed Galeno to miss his team's fourth penalty to secure qualification into the quarter-final. Claiming that how the Porto man picked the ball was a giveaway that he would miss, Henry said post-match (via CBS Sports):
"The way he picked up the ball, it looked suspicious to me, so I left."
Sure enough, Raya would save the attacker's spot-kick and send the Gunners into the Champions League quarter-final for the first time since the 2009-20 season. Arsenal will enjoy nearly three weeks of rest before they return to Premier League action, as a challenge against Manchester City awaits them on March 31.
Pepe reveals game plan behind frustrating Arsenal
FC Porto centre-back Pepe revealed that minimizing Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard's effect on the game was a part of the plan to frustrate the Gunners across both legs.
In both contests, the north Londoners created little to nothing, with the Norway international unable to pick passes around the box. The Premier League side didn't register a shot on target in the first leg while managing just four in the second.
Speaking after the match, Pepe said (via Metro):
"We don’t forget that Arsenal are a great team, in the Premier League they score a lot of goals. We came to play our game, neutralising Odegaard’s play between the lines. We knew what we were doing, but unfortunately we couldn’t score. They had a bit of luck."
Although the midfielder was unable to provide many shooting opportunities for his teammates in this contest, he created the pass that led to Trossard's goal.
Odegaard has scored two goals and provided an assist from seven Champions League appearances this campaign.