Martin Odegaard insists Arsenal cannot head into a long-awaited Champions League quarter-final draw fearing any opponent and called for Tuesday’s penalty shoot-out win over Porto to act as the catalyst for a Premier League title tilt.

The Gunners ended a 14-year wait to reach the last eight of Europe’s top-level club competition after David Raya saved two spot-kicks to seal progression following a 1-1 aggregate draw with Porto.

Leandro Trossard’s first-half strike at the Emirates Stadium drew Arsenal level in the last-16 tie, but the two sides could not be separated until Raya took centre stage, with all four of the hosts’ penalty takers finding the back of the net.

Arsenal had crashed out at the first knockout stage for seven consecutive years under Arsene Wenger and went on to endure a seven-year exile from the Champions League until they finished second in the Premier League last season.

Mikel Arteta’s side sit top of the table at present and Odegaard, who converted the first penalty of the shoot-out, believes Arsenal cannot fear facing the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Manchester City in the next round.

“To be honest, we can’t think like that,” he replied when asked if there was anyone he wanted to avoid in Friday’s draw.

“It’s the biggest tournament in the world and, no matter what team we get, it’s going to be a good team. We will just take what we get and we will try to win.

“That’s where we want to be. We want to be on the biggest stage. We want to play the biggest games and fight for the biggest trophies.

“When I came here I believed in the project, in the club, what they were doing, everything around the club, I believed in it – and now we are here doing well.

“We just have to keep pushing each other and make sure we get a little bit better every day. We will see where it takes us.”

Those improvements could also yet take Arsenal to a first Premier League crown in two decades, having fallen agonisingly short last year.

 

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After leading the way for 248 days of the campaign, they were pipped at the post by Treble-winning City.

However, a 2-1 victory over Brentford on Saturday followed by a draw between City and Liverpool means Arsenal will be top heading into the international break.

They travel to the Etihad Stadium on March 31 and Odegaard wants the win over Porto to act as fuel for their title drive.

“I think it is a massive boost for everyone,” the Norway international added.

“The way we did it also, it maybe wasn’t the best game, but you just saw everyone pushing so hard, digging so deep.

“I think you saw the mentality in the team when we stepped up for the penalties. I am really proud of everyone. We have to use this in a good way.

“I think we have to use this, we have to grow off this. It is a massive night for everyone. We are still a young squad, but this was another big experience for everyone.

“We have to keep building on that and use it in a good way going into the end of the season. It should be a massive boost for everyone.

“Every time we play, we want to win. We want to fight for all the trophies we can.”

Aaron Ramsey has been included in Wales’ Euro 2024 play-off squad, despite not starting a match for six months.

The 84-times capped Wales skipper suffered a knee injury in September and was out until February, making two substitute appearances for Cardiff before picking up a calf complaint.

Despite Ramsey playing only 72 minutes since September 16, manager Rob Page has named the 33-year-old midfielder in a 28-man squad as Wales seek to qualify for a third successive European Championship and fourth major tournament in five.

Wales host Finland in a Euro 2024 play-off semi-final in Cardiff on March 21, with the winners at home against Estonia or Poland five days later to determine a place in Germany this summer.

Ramsey, speaking to Sky Sports on Saturday about his playing return, said: “It’s coming along. Hopefully I’ll be back out on the grass next week.

“I’m optimistic and hopefully I’ll get back on that pitch as soon as possible.

“These play-off games at home are vital. We’ve had so much success of late over the last four tournaments.

“The expectation is on us now to keep qualifying for these tournaments.”

There are also recalls for Adam Davies, Charlie Savage, Dylan Levitt, Josh Low, Rabbi Matondo, Rubin Colwill and Wes Burns in an enlarged squad.

Low replaces Tom Lockyer, who played in Wales’ last Euro 2024 qualifier against Turkey in November.

Luton defender Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest in a Premier League game at Bournemouth in December.

Reading midfielder Savage and in-form Cardiff forward Colwill join Wycombe defender Low in being promoted from Matty Jones’ under-21 squad.

Burns, Davies, Levitt and Matondo are recalled with Joe Morrell, Niall Huggins and Tom Bradshaw missing out through injury.

Full squad: W Hennessey (Nottingham Forest), D Ward (Leicester), T King (Wolves), A Davies (Sheff Utd), B Davies (Tottenham), J Rodon (Leeds, on loan from Tottenham), J Low (Wycombe), C Mepham (Bournemouth), B Cabango (Swansea), N Williams (Nottingham Forest), J Dasilva (Coventry), C Roberts (Leeds, on loan from Burnley), W Burns (Ipswich), E Ampadu (Leeds), J Sheehan (Bolton), D Levitt (Hibernian), J James (Birmingham), C Savage (Reading), A Ramsey (Cardiff, capt), H Wilson (Fulham), R Matondo (Rangers), D Brooks (Southampton, on loan from Bournemouth), D James (Leeds), N Broadhead (Ipswich), L Cullen (Swansea), R Colwill (Cardiff), B Johnson (Tottenham), K Moore (Ipswich, on loan from Bournemouth).

Maurizio Sarri has resigned as Lazio head coach, with Giovanni Martusciello appointed interim boss.

Former Chelsea boss Sarri took charge of the Rome club in 2021 and guided them to the runners-up spot in Serie A last season – their highest placing since they won the title in 2000.

But after four straight defeats in all competitions and five losses in their last six games, the 65-year-old has stepped down.

“SS Lazio announces that Maurizio Sarri has resigned as head coach of the first team,” a Lazio statement read.

“The club would like to thank the coach for his achievements and for the work he has done, wishing him the best of luck in his personal and professional life.

“At the same time, the club announces that it has decided to entrust the technical guidance to Giovanni Martusciello.”

Speculation over Sarri’s future had been mounting during Lazio’s poor recent run, which has left them in ninth place the the table, and in a statement last week the club said “all the rumours that would link other coaches to S.S. Lazio are devoid of any foundation”.

Sarri won the Europa League with Chelsea during his one season in charge of the English club in 2018-19 and also led them to third in the Premier League and the League Cup final.

He steered Juventus to the Serie A title in 2019-20 and twice oversaw second-placed finishes for Napoli during his three years in charge of them.

A 76-year-old match programme from one of Rangers’ first post-war fixtures overseas is expected to change hands for a four-figure sum when it goes under the hammer next month.

The 16-page publication produced for the Ibrox club’s friendly against this week’s Europa League last-16 opponents Benfica in Lisbon on 10 February 1948 will be given a guide price of between £800 and £1,200 when details go live online this Friday ahead of its auction at Glasgow’s Trades Hall on 10 April.

It has been described by auctioneer and sporting memorabilia specialist David Convery as “one of the rarest Rangers and indeed Scottish post-Second World War match programmes in existence”.

Even allowing for the fact the spine has been taped, Scottish football memorabilia enthusiasts forecast that the programme, printed in an era of paper rationing across the world, will appeal to many Gers collectors and fetch significantly more than the reserve price.

It fell into the hands of fledgling Edinburgh collector Neil Brown when gifted to him by his Sunday school teacher as part of a random batch of programmes in the early 1960s.

The now 70-year-old Hearts supporter has no idea how such a rare item made its way back to Scotland following a match – some two and a half years after the end of the war – in which few of a Rangers persuasion beyond team and officials were in attendance.

“When I was 11 years old, my Sunday school teacher found out I’d started collecting programmes and brought in a bag of about 15 old programmes for me,” said Brown.

“I had no awareness at that point that it would be of any value in the future because in those days I was just collecting as a hobby.

“It was only probably in the 1980s, when people started to take a real interest in the value of such things, that I started to realise the significance of this particular programme and how rare it might be.

“I’ve collected all kinds of sport and music memorabilia over the years, such as comics, magazines, vinyl and football programmes, and it has all got a bit out of control!

“It has been fantastic to own such a rare item for so long but I’ve been trying to down-size for some time so now, unfortunately, is the time for it to go and let someone else enjoy it.”

Brown contacted the auctioneers in January and by sheer coincidence his prized programme – with a cover price of 1 Escudo – will be going under the hammer just weeks after Benfica and Rangers were reunited in the Europa League. The two sides are tied at 2-2 ahead of Thursday’s second leg at Ibrox.

Their encounter at Lisbon’s Estadio Nacional 76 years ago was the first ever meeting between the clubs and it represented Rangers’ second post-war match overseas – their first was against the Combined Services in Hannover in October 1945.

Bill Struth’s Gers side defeated the Portuguese 3-0 in front of an estimated crowd of 60,000, with Jimmy Duncanson scoring twice and Willie Thornton also on target.

As a romantic aside, former Rangers player and manager Willie Waddell met his wife Hilda when she was working as an air hostess on the flight to Lisbon for the match.

What the papers say

Liverpool have expressed their faith in Colombian winger Luis Diaz after telling Spanish giants Barcelona that the 27-year-old is not for sale and is a part of their long-term plans, the Daily Mirror reports. Diaz has scored six goals and created three more in 27 games in the Premier League for the club this season.

The Mirror says Manchester United have set a price tag of £43million on striker Mason Greenwood with an unnamed Saudi Pro League interested in the 22-year-old’s signature. The forward has spent the season in La Liga at Spanish club Getafe on loan where he has scored six goals and assisted five more in 23 matches.

The Daily Mail reports Chelsea could be looking to offload several stars this summer including Raheem Sterling, Romelu Lukaku, Trevoh Chalobah and Marc Cucurella.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Viktor Gyokeres: Arsenal have made the Swedish forward their number one target this summer with the Sporting Lisbon player having a £85million release clause in his contract, according to Football Transfers.

Willian Pacho: Liverpool and Arsenal are interested in the 22-year-old Ecuadorian defender at Eintracht Frankfurt, 90min says.

Mikel Arteta hailed a “magic night” at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal beat Porto 4-2 on penalties to reach first Champions League quarter-final in 14 years.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Portugal, a goal from Leandro Trossard just before half-time levelled the tie late in the first half, but there Arsenal’s momentum stalled as they failed to wrap the game up inside 90 minutes.

After a nervous extra-time it took heroics from goalkeeper David Raya, saving twice in the shoot-out, to put the hosts into the last-eight for the first time since Arsene Wenger’s team faced Barcelona in 2010.

“A magic night,” said Arteta. “We expected a really tough opponent. It’s very difficult to generate momentum and that’s credit to them.

“It’s a huge experience for us. We had to do it as well through penalties. Credit to David who had some difficult moments to start but showed incredible determination and stood up and got rewarded.”

Arsenal, roared on by a home support determined to drag their team through, began with urgency befitting of their predicament, but they suffered a frustrating first half.

Not until four minutes before the break did the second leg tip their way, and the goal was brilliantly made by Martin Odegaard, receiving the ball from Trossard 30-yards out and taking four Porto players out of the game with a superb slide-rule pass.

There on the end of if was Trossard, skipping in off the left and sliding it cooly past Diogo Costa for 1-0.

Odegaard thought he’d given Arsenal the lead in the tie when he tapped into an empty goal in the second half, only for his effort to be ruled out for a foul by Kai Havertz on veteran defender Pepe. A furious Arteta was booked for his protests.

Gabriel Jesus came off the bench and almost settled things with his first touch, goalkeeper Costa spreading himself well and deflecting his effort wide, before Odegaard shot inches past the post after the goalkeeper beat out Bukayo Saka’s shot.

Porto’s threat on the break lingered throughout the ensuing extra 30 minutes, though penalties had long looked the likeliest destination.

So it proved, and it was goalkeeper Raya who was the hero, saving from defender Wendell and first-leg match-winner Galeno to send Arsenal through.

“For (the players) to do it when the club hasn’t done it for 14 years, I tell you it will be a boost,” said Arteta. “The margins are so small.

“I see how much they want it, how much they try and they are able to sacrifice anything to win. When you play like this at the end good things are going to come your way.

“It’s another big step (in the season), especially as a club. For seven years we haven’t been in this competition and for 14 years we haven’t got this far. That tells you the difficulty of it. We want more and we’re going to go for it that’s for sure.

“It’s the first time that I’ve done it in the Champions League. I try to learn every day, get advice and that’s why you have good people around you, great coaches around you as well to help you and make you better.”

Porto boss Sergio Conceicao was involved with an altercation on the pitch with Arteta at the end of the game, and gave a terse explanation of what was said.

“During the game, (Arteta) turned to the bench and in Spanish – it must be a Spanish coach thing because it was the same thing with (Pep) Guardiola – he insulted my family,” he said.

“In the end I told him to pay attention because who he insulted is no longer with us, and to worry about coaching his team, because due to individual quality he has an obligation to do more and better.”

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho praised two-goal hero Kusini Yengi after a 2-1 win over Burton retained their lead at the top of League One.

The victory moved leaders Pompey five points clear of second-placed Derby and six in front of Bolton in third.

Mousinho said: “It was a good result. It would be a shame to dwell on the last 10 minutes, because I thought we were excellent in those previous 80 minutes.

“But I said to the players at the end that we need to put games to bed because not doing so allowed them back into the game. Burton changed their shape and personnel which caused us problems at the end.

“We changed shape tonight because of player availability, and I thought it worked well with some good football. We played Kusini because we have options up front, and Colby Bishop has had a heavy workload.

“And, like tonight, he can score goals.”

Albion had the first effort at goal, with Rekeem Harper rattling the Pompey bar in the first minute.

Pompey found life difficult in the final third, but had a superb chance after 37 minutes when Yengi somehow shot wide of an open goal from two yards.

But he made amends in added time, when after having been brought down in the area, got up to score the penalty.

Pompey kept the pressure on in the second half, and despite Abu Kamara blasting high over the bar in the 57th minute, Yengi scored his second six minutes later when he tapped in from a hard low Kamara cross.

Burton pulled one back after 80 minutes when captain John Brayford fired home.

Albion boss Martin Paterson said: “We played a very good team tonight. One that can find holes in defences, so the team did tremendously well.

“My etiquette has always been to not discuss officials, but tonight that changes. The equilibrium of decisions and actions against my football club was not the same as theirs.

“I respect the decision for their penalty, but when my players put in the kind of effort they have tonight, and have an even better penalty shout turned down, it’s difficult not to say something.

“In the second half we made substitutions, changed shape, and scored a good goal.

“It’s totally unfair to my players not to have got a point out of the game. I was really proud of them tonight. We had them on the rack in the last 10 minutes, and the last two games we have been excellent.

“I think we will kick on from this having been denied.”

Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick admitted Riley McGree’s stunning winner was good enough to win any game and was the “wow” moment from their 1-0 win at St. Andrew’s.

McGree’s 17th-minute goal was his sixth of the season and first since September, giving Boro their third straight win.

The Teessiders are up to ninth and five points off the final play-off position.

“I don’t think you expect that but it was a pure strike from Riley,” said Carrick.

“He’s capable of those moments and he’s had one or two of those ‘wow’ moments with goals he’s scored like that.

“It was a hell of a strike and fitting to win any game. He’s capable of that and, like some of the boys, capable of even better.

“I thought there were moments of real quality in the game and that was the standout one.

“Hopefully he’s coming into a real vein of form when we need him.”

McGree’s celebrations were muted out of respect to the club where he spent 15 months on loan across two seasons from October 2020 to the end of 2021.

“Knowing Riley it was down to that. He’s down to earth and humble and very respectful,” added Carrick.

“I didn’t realise that but if he didn’t celebrate, I can understand that.”

Carrick was non-committal on Boro’s hopes of making the top six, with Blackburn at home on Saturday.

“Let’s see where we go – we’ve had a good week,” he said.

“We were the only game so we knew we could make a bit of a jump, so we made the most of it.

“Just because we won doesn’t mean the next game is going to naturally end in a win. We need to start again and prepare for that.”

McGree lashed an unstoppable left-foot drive into the top corner from 25 yards after Alex Pritchard’s pass was easily cut out by Luke Ayling.

Birmingham have now gone five games without a win and are just a point above the relegation zone after losing their match in hand.

Interim manager Mark Venus admitted the absence of boss Tony Mowbray for medical treatment was being felt deeply.

“He’s making good progress and we can’t get him back quickly enough and hopefully he will be back in the future,” said Venus.

“We’ve missed him immensely and enormously. He’s a leader, a motivator and a driver and I think undoubtedly when you have someone like him at the front, you miss him.

“We have not got enough leaders in the club. But we have to work with what we’ve got and we have to do better and get through this.

“It’s a lack of quality that we all have to address.”

Ian Evatt reckons Bolton can achieve promotion from Sky Bet League One provided they can replicate the performance of their 5-0 demolition against shell-shocked Oxford.

Josh Dacres-Cogley scored on his 28th birthday with further goals coming from Nathaniel Ogbeta, George Thomason, Aaron Collins and Josh Sheehan.

“If we can replicate that eight more times we won’t have too much to worry about,” said Evatt as Bolton stay hard on the heels of the top two – Portsmouth and Derby.

“That is what I want my team to look like,” added Evatt. “When they play like that, it makes me a proud manager.

“Everyone knows we are capable of that performance, we have got to do it more and more.

“We have been asked a lot of questions and it is up to us to come up with the answers. And the players know if they dip below those standards I will tell them.”

Ogbeta set Bolton on the way to victory with a sweet 19th-minute strike from Thomason’s pass.

Dacres-Cogley was gifted a present of his celebratory goal. Goaleeper Jamie Cumming and defender Greg Leigh collided attempting to deal with a long ball from Ricardo Santos and the full-back fired into an empty net.

Thomason’s long-range strike took a deflection past Cumming, but there was no mistaken identity as Collins finished off a flowing passing move to make it 4-0 and register Bolton’s 100th goal of the season in all competitions.

Man of the match Sheehan curled in a superb fifth goal after 69 minutes.

“We don’t score tap ins or scruffy goals,” said Evatt. “I am so proud of the players.

“Our focus in and out of possession was great and we looked sharp with the ball. When this team is at its fluid best we are a good team to watch.”

Oxford boss Des Buckingham admitted the result was a “difficult one to take” as they suffered a third defeat in their last four games.

“It is not something I saw coming,” Buckingham admitted. “Bolton played extremely well, but we played poorly and that’s the reality of it.

“We will get to the bottom of it. I don’t want to jump to things right now. I need to take the emotions out of the situation.

“The scoreline isn’t a true reflection of who we are and what we are. We will make sure we delve deep to ensure it does not happen again.

“If you get beaten anywhere 5-0, it is an embarrassment. It is difficult one to take, even more so because we were on TV trying to showcase what we do and how we do it and showcase Oxford across the country.

“We couldn’t do that across any area and we made it very easy for them at times.”

Barnsley boss Neill Collins praised his side’s reaction from their weekend mauling as they came from a goal down to beat Carlisle 3-2.

Question marks were raised about the Tykes’ promotion credentials after they were hammered 5-1 by Lincoln on Saturday.

But, despite falling behind to Luke Armstrong’s early goal, they equalled a club record of 10 successive away games unbeaten in the same season.

Goals from captain Jordan Williams, John McAtee and Jonathan Russell put them in command and they held on for all three points after Daniel Butterworth pulled one back for League One’s bottom club Carlisle.

And Collins said: “That’s a huge win and in some respects our biggest win of the season.

“We are on a great run, but despite all of the positives, one performance gets questions asked and I thought the players answered them well.

“It’s fantastic to get a big record like that at a club like Barnsley who have had a lot of good teams over the years.

“One mistake and it was a goal and in the back of the net, but after that we were really good.

“We could have been ahead at half-time but we came out and continued and really could have had more.

“There was another mistake at the end and that made it a bit more interesting than I would have liked.”

Williams produced a fine 20-yard strike to level in the 33rd minute.

Collins added: “It was fantastic. Jordan has been an excellent captain and got a great goal. For large parts his performance was excellent.”

Paul Simpson’s Carlisle have lost 11 of their last 12 as relegation straight back to League Two creeps ever closer.

They are now 16 points adrift of safety and Simpson said: “You have to be brutally honest, they were the better team.

“When you look at the levels, you’ve got a team who have been in the Championship and fighting for promotion and we’re where we are because that’s where we deserve to be.

“That’s clear to see in terms of the technical ability of them and the care they took on the passing.

“We had opportunities where we got into the final third, but we don’t take enough care on it.

“The disappointing thing is we work day in and day out on passing and possession drills. We get in good areas, but can’t do it.

“I’ve said to the players that it’s an education. We’re seeing and we’re suffering because we’re coming up against teams who are physically stronger and that’s not a case of just working on it in the gym, they’re psychologically made up better than us.

“That’s something we’ve got to change because we’re aspiring to be like that as a football club.

“We want to improve and be able to compete at this level, but currently we’re a long way off it.”

Derby head coach Paul Warne admitted his team might have got lucky after they beat 10-man Reading 2-1 at Pride Park.

Dwight Gayle scored for the third game running, although there was an offside question mark hanging over his strike which put the Rams ahead.

Gayle pounced in the 53rd minute when he fired home from Joe Ward’s free-kick, only for Sam Smith to head in Andy Yiadom’s cross to equalise three minutes later.

But Yiadom was shown a second yellow in the 59th minute for a foul on Conor Hourihane, who restored Derby’s lead from the penalty spot.

Warne said: “I thought first half we were really good, we played well and generally we controlled the game.

“We started the second half OK and got a goal that does look a bit dubious if I’m honest. I’m not going to say it was six yards onside, it looked on the edge of being close, so we rode our luck there, although I don’t think we’ve had much luck at Pride Park this year.

“But to concede straight after, we missed a couple of opportunities in the middle of the park to tackle and don’t stop the cross.

“Our intention was to take Sonny (Bradley) off early, he didn’t feel well before the game and was sick when he came off, so I’ll forgive him for not winning his header.

“It was nice we won a penalty with a ball in behind. The captain took it, I won’t lie I was a little bit nervous. When I took him off he said ‘did you have any doubts’ and I said ‘I’ve got to be honest I had a little bit of doubt!'”

Reading manager Ruben Selles said: “I look at the replay and I make my own opinion. When I say we will fight against everything and everyone, we need to play harder, we are going to do it as this team has been doing, fighting against absolutely everything that has been thrown against us.

“Today is another example of how competitive we can be and more than that I don’t know what to say.

“I think the decisions are clear, I don’t even need to say, the pictures talk by themselves. I think Derby is a really good team. We were competitive but I think the decisions were not on our side.”

David Raya admitted it was a “great feeling” to help Arsenal into the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years.

Goalkeeper Raya was Arsenal’s hero with two penalty saves as they won a shoot-out against Porto 4-2.

Leandro Trossard’s goal four minutes before half-time levelled the tie at 1-1 on aggregate.

Extra time could not separate the sides and in the shoot-out, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz buried their penalties before Raya tipped Wendell’s spot-kick on to his left-hand post.

Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice then converted and Raya made another fine save from Wenderson Galeno to send the Gunners through.

“Obviously it’s a great feeling especially for me personally, my first time in the Champions League and the first time in a long time club has got to the quarter-finals,” the Spaniard told TNT Sports.

“We’ve been working a lot on penalties this year because on a night like this you need to be good and the hard work has paid off. It’s a great night.

“I should have saved three, but I’m over the moon to save two and get through to the quarter-finals.

“Porto made it so difficult over there and here. But we scored the goal that we needed and it went to penalties. Obviously mentally it’s tough but the team played really, really well, we kept a clean sheet, scored the goal and went to penalties.

“It means everything, You play football for these kind of nights. Over the moon and I’m going to celebrate and enjoy the night.”

Michael Skubala hailed his “ruthless” Lincoln side after they thrashed Cambridge 6-0 to extend their unbeaten Sky Bet League One run to 12 matches.

Braces apiece from Jack Moylan – his second in two games – and Joe Taylor, plus further strikes from subs TJ Eyoma and Dylan Duffy saw the Imps close to within three points of the play-off places.

“I thought we were ruthless from start to finish,” gushed Skubala. “I was very impressed and even at the end you could see how much these guys want to win.

“We’re a tough side to play against, we have a ruthless streak to us and the mentality of the group is fantastic at the moment.

“We talk about starting the game quickly, making sure we’re on the front foot and credit to the lads, they did that really well. I thought there were some brilliant performances out there to a man.

“We need to keep our feet on the ground, though. We haven’t cracked it. We have to do it game by game and go again. It’s going to be really tough game on Saturday against Bristol Rovers.

“But we’re putting a marker down and if anyone slips up, we’ll be there.”

Moylan fired City into the lead after just three minutes. Sean Roughan’s cross into the box fell to Lasse Sorensen initially, but the ball eventually found its way to the Irishman who smashed a shot high into the roof of the net.

Moylan doubled the lead after 25 minutes, confidently slotting a low shot past Jack Stevens after a delightful Ethan Erhahon pass.

It took the Imps just three minutes of the second half to go 3-0 up, with Danny Mandroiu’s sublime ball across United’s area finding an unmarked Taylor who had the easy job of steering the ball into the net.

City added a fourth after 75 minutes when Moylan’s brilliant through ball set up Taylor to dink a shot over Stevens and into the net.

Eyoma then fired home after Teddy Bishop’s shot was initially blocked before Duffy rammed a shot through Stevens’ legs to complete the rout.

It was a humbling experience for Cambridge boss Garry Monk in only his second match in charge.

“I am hugely frustrated, I did not expect that all,” admitted Monk. “I expected us to build off the back of an OK performance last Saturday.

“It was just self-inflicted – all those goals were very poor ones to concede. You can’t concede goals how we did tonight. You might see one or two of them conceded like that, but not four or five.

“We made far too many mistakes. We rather gifted them a lot of their goals and the performance has given me some food for thought.

“I need to think a bit more what we need to do away from home. Once a couple of the goals went in, we were a bit tepid after that. We were a yard or two off it.

“We played against a good side, but we made it easy for them.”

Exeter boss Gary Caldwell was delighted after his side secured a 3-0 victory over Shrewsbury to move 10 points clear of the League One relegation zone.

Shrewsbury were dealt a blow in the seventh minute when referee David Rock showed a red card to winger Jordan Shipley for a two-footed challenge on Ryan Woods.

And the Grecians took full advantage with Will Aimson, Luke Harris and Jack Aitchison all scoring before half-time to secure a first win in six games.

Grecians boss Caldwell said: “I was delighted. The red card changed the game, and it actually made it harder in some respects.

“In terms of how deep Shrewsbury then sat in, it could have potentially been a really long night.

“When we created opportunities, we were ruthless with our finishing, and our goals were fantastic.

“I thought, in the second half again, we could be a bit better in our final third play, take a bit more risk, and create more opportunities.

“The size of the game and where we both are in the league, I can’t be happier about what the players did and the result.

“When we went into tight areas and played intricate football in and around the box I thought we played we were very good.

“I just said to the players there is eight games to go they are all massive games and we want to win as many points as we can.”

Shrewsbury are three points worse off than Exeter following their third defeat in four outings.

Boss Paul Hurst was furious with the decision to send off Shipley.

“I can’t say what I really think,” Hurst said.

“I think we may as well stop playing football if that’s a red card.

“I am not saying it’s not a red card for Woods at all – but if anything, he is the one that ends up higher on Shipley.

“When the referee blew up, I thought he gave a free-kick to us. And my gut from the side is that honestly – and admittedly, I was a distance away – but it was Woods who was slightly late on it, and Shipley got there first.

“Then for the red card I was genuinely thinking it was for their player and for it to turn out for Jordan was baffling.

“It spoils the night for everyone and at 10 men we need to give it a go. But like I said they are good in possession and that is the type of team you don’t want to go down to 10 men to.”

David Raya saved two penalties as Arsenal beat Porto 4-2 in a shoot-out to reach their first Champions League quarter-final in 14 years.

Leandro Trossard’s first-half strike cancelled out a first-leg deficit but Mikel Arteta’s side then struggled to create chances to win the game as the tie finished 1-1 on aggregate.

All four of Arsenal’s penalty takers were faultless as Raya kept out spot-kicks from Wendell and Galeno to take the Premier League leaders past the last-16 stage for the first time since 2010.

As a player, Arteta suffered four straight defeats in this round of the competition but – having ended Arsenal’s seven-year Champions League exile – he has now guided his side into the final eight.

They could yet face rivals Manchester City, with the draw made on Friday, but for now they will be happy to have banished painful memories of defeats at this stage down the years – with seven consecutive exits in this round under Arsene Wenger.

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