Arsenal secured a narrow victory over Sporting thanks to Havertz's late goal.

After a cautious start from both sides, Maxi Araujo took a powerful shot with his left foot towards the goal, but David Raya was quick to react, deflecting the ball onto the crossbar.

It took Arsenal 10 minutes to create their first clear-cut chance, when former Sporting forward Viktor Gyökeres was easily pushed out of the box by the opposition.

Noni Madueke, who came on for the injured Bukayo Saka, hit the crossbar with a shot from a corner, creating a goal-scoring opportunity for the away team.

The Portuguese team were ready to switch to a five-man defence whenever Arsenal attempted to attack, limiting the forward momentum of the North London team.

However, as the first half progressed, Sporting still had not brought the dangerous Luis Suárez into play, and in general, the home team only had three touches in Arsenal's penalty area.

By the end of the first half, neither team had really done anything notable, although Arsenal were probably the more disappointed, having failed to capitalise on nine crosses into the box.

After the break, the match quickly returned to its familiar rhythm, with Declan Rice successfully blocking every Sporting attack.

Martin Odegaard's free kick forced Rui Silva to be alert, before Trincao's low shot forced Raya to dive and save.

Just after the 60 minute, Martin Zubimendi seemed to have put Arsenal ahead with a curling shot from outside the box, but the goal was quickly disallowed for offside.

Rice did more than most of the other players to ensure a positive result for Arsenal, as evidenced by his 13 successful tackles.

With seven minutes left, Raya once again saved Arsenal with an excellent one-handed save from Geny Catamo's intelligent header.

With only two minutes of added time left, there was no better time for Havertz to silence the entire stadium with a precise shot, securing a victory for Arsenal.

This result means that the Portuguese team still hasn't won any of their eight matches against Arsenal (four draws, four losses), but the way they contained the Gunners for long periods will give them hope of causing an upset at the Emirates Stadium.