By Victor Kanayo
English Premier League leaders Arsenal, were held to a 2-2 draw at Sporting CP despite scoring first in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie at Lisbon.
It was an encounter that French defender nodded in Fabio Vieira’s corner on 22 minutes to open the scoring and net his third goal for the Gunners.
However, Sporting Lisbon responded to equalise and subsequently took the lead before the gunners levelled play deep into the second half.
Both sides pressed for a winner but it was not to be, leaving the tie finely poised ahead of the second leg at Emirates Stadium on March 16.
Arsenal in search of Premier League after many years of waiting, will return to action on Sunday when they visit Fulham.
On their part, Sporting will host Boavista in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.
Similarly, Manchester United with pace thrashed Real Betis 4-1 during the Europa League round-of-16, first-leg win on Thursday night.
With the snow falling at Old Trafford, Marcus Rashford and Ayoze Perez traded first-half tallies before United hit top gear in the second stanza, with goals from Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Wout Weghorst staking them to a comfortable lead ahead of the second leg at the Benito Villamarin Stadium on March 16.
Victory for the Red Devils came, after they were bashed 7-0 by Liverpool in the Premier League, despite beating Barcelona in the previous round.
Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis, sitting fifth in LaLiga, had no answers, as they looked to work their way back into the game.
United will now host Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday, while Betis are away to Villarreal in LaLiga on the same day.
