£20m Arsenal player answers critics with masterclass against Porto

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Arsenal reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2010 thanks to a penalty shootout win over Porto.

The Gunners hosted the Portuguese giants at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, trailing 1-0 from the first leg.

Arsenal succeeded in cancelling out Porto’s lead thanks to Leandro Trossard’s first-half goal following an outstanding Martin Odegaard through-ball.

However, both sides played out a stalemate – in terms of finding the net – for the rest of the encounter, prompting extra time and then penalties.

Arsenal made no mistake from the spot as Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice were all on target from 12 yards out.

Meanwhile, Arsenal loanee David Raya saved from Wendell and Galeno – the scorer of Porto’s first-leg winner – to put the Gunners into the last eight of the competition.

Jakub Kiwior dazzling for Arsenal after slow start at Emirates Stadium

While most of Arsenal’s players impressed on the night, Jakub Kiwior in particular deserves his flowers for how he continues to go from strength to strength at N5.

The 24-year-old has endured his fair share of critics in his early days at Arsenal, and there were concerns from one pundit ahead of the game as well.

Jacek Bak is quoted by Superexpress as saying earlier this week: “I watch Kuba’s matches and I still cannot escape the impression that, despite his enormous potential, he hasn’t yet reached the level required in a team like Arsenal to always play from the first to the last minute.

“Kiwior is sometimes too easy to play in one-on-one situations, and he lacks the self-confidence required of a defender in the Premier League, which is built not so much on league matches, but performances in such competitions as the Champions League.”

That certainly wasn’t the case against Porto, where the Poland international was outstanding.

‘Perhaps an unexpected pick given Zinchenko’s availability but justified his selection massively,’ wrote football.london, who gave him 8 out of 10.

‘Great one-vs-one defending particularly in the second half where he was unbeatable.’

There you go. Kiwior proved himself in a crunch clash in the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club competition, and at this point, the sky’s the limit for the £20million man.