Mikel Arteta did not hide his frustration with Arsenal's performance in Thursday's 2-2 draw with Sporting CP, but Fabio Vieira's display brought him a degree of pleasure.
The Gunners took the lead in the first half when William Saliba headed in from Vieira's corner, only for their hosts to level in similar circumstances just past the half-hour mark at the Jose Alvalade.
Paulinho put Sporting in front after the break with a tap-in, but Hidemasa Morita's own goal seven minutes later ultimately secured Arsenal a draw to take back to Emirates Stadium for the return leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.
The draw puts Arsenal – who have only lost at home twice all season – in a decent position ahead of the second leg, but Arteta feels they can do better, even considering the somewhat unfamiliar look to his starting XI.
"We are conceding too many simple goals," he told reporters.
"We spoke about the importance of boxes, especially in a competition where you're in or out. [On Thursday], we didn't defend that well enough, and we have to be better at threatening the opponents as well.
"But of course, you have an opponent there. We've played some really emotional games recently.
"We made a lot of changes and sometimes that takes time to get that cohesion, and you could feel it in the first 15 minutes that it needed some time to adapt and click.
"If we don't expose them, though, that's never going to happen."
He added: "When you concede two poor goals like we did away from home in Europe, it's very difficult to get a positive result.
"The game had different phases because we gave too many simple balls away in our own half and gave them the capacity to [exploit] transition moments, which they are good at.
"In other moments we had total control of the game and we lost a little bit of threat, especially with the four players we are missing in our frontline.
"There were some positives because we showed a lot of resilience to get back into the game, but we need to defend our box much better and be better on Sunday."
Vieira's performance was a surely one of those positives.
The Portugal international was given only his 13th start of the season, but his delivery for Saliba's opener was his sixth assist already – only Bukayo Saka (nine) has more for the Gunners this term, and he has played almost 1,600 minutes more than Vieira.
Arteta clearly values the former Porto midfielder.
"I'm really happy with him," he added. "I think he deserves more minutes than he's had, especially in the last two months.
"Obviously he had a difficult start because he was injured for two months after a surgery, and wasn't at the level that we want.
"You saw tonight he was probably our most dangerous player. He was always making things happen. He's a player that I absolutely love."
Brazil legend Marta to retire from international football
Brazil star Marta has announced she will retire from international football at the end of 2024.
The 38-year-old is the all-time highest scorer for Brazil, netting 116 goals in 175 matches for the national team.
She is also the top-scorer in the Women’s World Cup with 17 goals, finishing as a runner-up in 2007 when Brazil lost in the final to Germany.
The forward has won three Copa America Femenina titles and was part of the Brazil team that won silver medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
Marta could make her sixth appearance for Brazil at this year's Games if she is selected in the squad at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
"If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because, regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team," Marta told CNN in an interview on Thursday.
"There will be no more Marta from 2025 in the national team as an athlete.
"I am very calm about this because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes."
Al Hilal 3-1 Al Fateh: Neves on target as Saudi giants close in on title
Al Hilal moved 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr at the top of the Saudi Pro League as Ruben Neves scored in a 3-1 win over Al Fateh on Friday.
Former Wolves star Neves slotted in from the penalty spot in the 74th minute, as Al Hilal completed a rapid comeback.
Having fallen behind to Lucas Zelarayan's 57th-minute opener, Al Hilal responded swiftly through Micheal before Salem Al Najdi fouled Mohammed Al Qahtani in the penalty area.
Ex-Barcelona winger Cristian Trello and Al Fateh coach Slaven Bilic were booked for their complaints, with Neves making no mistake, paving the way for Ali Al Bulayhi to seal victory in the 15th minute of an extended period of stoppage time.
Data Debrief
Al Hilal have now won 21 games on the spin in the league. They have scored 86 goals across their 28 matches this season, winning 26 in total.
They had 19 shots on Friday, accumulating 2.34 xG to Al Fateh's 0.25, with pass-master Neves creating three chances to go along with his goal.
RFEF elects Rocha as new president
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has confirmed Pedro Rocha as its new president.
Rocha has been elected as Luis Rubiales' replacement, despite being under investigation for corruption.
He had been serving as interim president since Rubiales resigned in September over the scandal caused when he kissed player Jenni Hermoso following Spain's Women's World Cup triumph in August.
In a statement released on Friday, the RFEF said: "Pedro Rocha has today been proclaimed the new president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), after having received the support of the majority of the assembly members of this institution that governs Spanish football.
"The process followed the procedure agreed by the Electoral Commission, which met this morning, and the timetable that was established for these elections."
Rocha has been under investigation since earlier in April, after the RFEF's headquarters was raided by police last month. The Spanish government announced on Thursday that it would be stepping in to oversee the running of the organisation.
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