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74 min: Lewis-Skelly goes down … then gets up and receives a warm ovation as he departs. He’s replaced by Zubimendi.
72 min: … and is eventually worked towards Madueke on the right, but his attempted cross is sliced out of play for a goal kick.
71 min: Gyökeres keeps running and pressing, despite that big miss, and his efforts win his team another corner. This will come in from the left …
69 min: White latches onto a loose ball 30 yards out, and pings a low shot wide right. This game is opening up again. “Forget Tom Waits,” insists Evan Doll. “I think of Diego Simeone as looking like Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s slightly more unkempt, slightly less successful little brother.”
67 min: Griezmann is finally replaced, along with Alvarez. On come Álex Baena and Thiago Almada.
66 min: Arsenal are this close to doubling their lead. And it would have been a fine goal. Hincapie is sent striding down the left at speed by Odegaard, and whips a first-time cross into the centre. Gyökeres arrives, meets the ball on the penalty spot … and clears the bar by inches. He has to score. Has to. And reacts by covering his mouth, but not in trademark celebration style.
64 min: A free kick for Atleti out on the left. Griezmann, who is about to be replaced by Álex Baena, swings it into the mixer. It’s easily cleared. “Does anyone else remember Arsenal being fuming about being gazumped by Chelsea when they were about to sign Mudryk?” wonders nostalgia enthusiast Edan Tal. “Felt disappointing that they had to settle for Trossard on the cheap at the time, not so much now!”
62 min: It’s all got a bit scrappy, which probably suits Arsenal at the moment, given Atleti were working up a small head of steam. “Forget Kramer,” insists Justin Kavanagh. “I think of Diego Simeone as looking like Tom Waits’ slightly more kempt, slightly more successful little brother.”
60 min: Ødegaard is immediately into the swing of things, looking for the top-right corner from distance. Over it goes, but not by too much. Oblak had it covered, mind.
59 min: Arsenal respond with a triple swap of their own, Saka, Eze and Calafiori being replaced by Ødegaard, Madueke and Hincapie.
57 min: Atleti make a triple change, replacing Simeone, Lookman and Le Normand with Cardoso, Sørloth and Molina.
56 min: Griezmann shoots. Raya parries. The striker tries to recover the loose ball and is lightly clipped by Calafiori. Griezmann goes over, and VAR gets involved, but fortunately for the defender, there was a foul on Gabriel earlier in the move.
54 min: Rice bombs forward and slips the ball to Trossard on his right. Trossard shoots. It’s blocked. The game is much more open in this second half. Not entirely sure who that benefits, but here we are.
53 min: That was a huge chance, and a reminder that Arsenal are far from home and hosed yet. “Diego Simeone is known as a fighter,” begins Peter Oh. “How will he react to taking a Saka punch to the gut?”
51 min: A long ball down the middle. Saliba heads backwards to his keeper. It’s weak. Simeone nips in and rounds Raya, but can’t force into the unguarded net, with Gabriel arriving just in time to grapple from behind and hook out for a corner. Simeone claims to have been tugged back illegally, but that’s outstanding defence. Nothing comes of the resulting corner. Simeone will wonder how he didn’t get the chance to roll that home.
49 min: Llorente lightly tugs at Trossard’s shirt, and though the Arsenal man goes down in theatrical style, is still fortunate not to go into the book. The resulting free kick is worked towards White on the right. He crosses, looking for Gabriel, who goes over while tussling with Le Normand, but doesn’t claim the penalty. The crowd do, though. The referee waves play on, quite correctly.
48 min: There’s a lot of space down the inside-right channel for Pubill to advance into. He takes the opportunity, then crosses for Lookman, but the ball’s cleared by the stooping White. Atleti already showing more spirit in attack.
46 min: The freshly-bollocked Atleti are immediately on the attack, Llorente looping in from the right, Lookman unable to win a header at the far stick.
Arsenal get the second half underway. No changes, though Atleti were sent out early by their presumably irate manager.
Half-time postbag. “Last season I watched Arsenal hang on against Barcelona to win the Champions League final and I nearly dug my fingers through the armrest of my chair. Yesterday I watched Everton v City in a similar state. The less said about the one-nil against Newcastle the better. And yet tonight I feel serenely calm. Going out against Atlético would be no dishonour, and the league feels more important anyway. I’m… enjoying this? As a fan of the Gunners, I’m not used to this, but I’ll take it” – Kári Tulinius
“No one in September would have thought Arsenal will be playing their semi-final with White, Lewis-Skelly, Eze and Gyokeres starting the match. And they have been brilliant so far!” – Balaji
“Oh yes, One-Nil is definitely better than North London Forever; let’s all sing along to it – but not in the original with the now hopelessly compromised and discredited Village People; let’s have the classy Pet Shop Boys version” – Charles Antaki
“Anyone else getting Kramer of Seinfeld fame from Diego Simeone? Time for the barber I think” – Tim Smith
Half-time advertising break. The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
HALF TIME: Arsenal 1-0 Atletico Madrid (agg 2-1)
Well, that’s changed everything! Arsenal will be heading to Budapest as things stand. They deserve their lead on the balance of play: Atleti have shown next to nothing in attack.
45 min +1: “One-nil to the Arsenal” is much better than North London Forever, isn’t it? The crowd sing their thing.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Atletico Madrid (Saka 45); agg 2-1
Arsenal break the deadlock! Gyökeres chases a ball slipped down the right. He nearly rounds the out-rushing Oblak, but the keeper does just enough. Gyökeres crosses for Trossard, coming in from the other flank. Trossard chests down, and there are a few groans as he takes his sweet time to line up a shot. But it’s worth the wait, because when he eventually takes one, hard and low, Oblak parries, and the ball breaks to Saka, who forces home from a couple of yards!
43 min: Alvarez chases after a long ball down the middle. He’s not getting past Saliba and Gabriel. He goes over, claiming an unfair nudge, but the linesman tells him to get up.
42 min: White and Eze combine crisply down the inside right, but the resulting low shot towards the near post is easily snaffled by Oblak.
41 min: The pace drops. It had to, at some point. And on the subject of joules burned … “Has anyone done a heatmap of Diego Simeone?” wonders Andy Gordon. “Not for where he goes, but for his calorific output that could sustainably power most of the lighting at the Emirates tonight.” Arteta presumably providing the electricity for Highbury & Islington tube?
39 min: Gyökeres is making his presence felt, bustling all across the front line. This time he hares down the left, but can’t get the better of Griezmann, who celebrates winning a goal kick as he would a kick into the goal. Meanwhile here’s Justin Kavanagh with an investment pitch for the Dragons: “Both Arteta and Simeone have been wildly leaping and gesticulating practically ON the pitch throughout this tie. It’s well past time for the coach-on-a-bungee-cord innovation to be implemented, whereby reaching the edge of the technical area will automatically spring them back onto the bench. Or collars and electric fences. Someone PLEASE have a word with Monsieur Wenger.”
37 min: Eze tries to dribble his way through a six-man thicket on the edge of the Atleti box. Full marks for ambition, but that caper was never going to bear fruit.
36 min: … and from the corner, Rice takes another whack, blootering the ball into the nearest defender. Atleti clear. “This was a trade mark in Madrid that I was praying wouldn’t be repeated at home,” begins Pete Mumola. “The amount of backpasses not just in their half but inside the box is begging for a mistake. And with this scoreline, one mistake could end the tie.”
35 min: Two Arsenal penalty appeals in quick succession. Griezmann nudges Trossard softly in the back. Trossard goes over, but it would have been as soft as the shove. Then Rice claims handball as his shot hits Hancko, but that’s in the chest rather than on the arm. VAR checks both and waves play on. But it’ll be a corner to Arsenal, from the right as a result of Rice’s deflected shot.
33 min: Gabriel loops a cross into the Atleti mixer from the left. It’s deflected, and easy pickings for Oblak. Atleti counter, but the ball doesn’t find Griezmann in space. Neither team quite clicking in the final third.
32 min: Atleti spend some more precious time on the ball. They’re slowly getting back into the game after that period of Arsenal pressure.
30 min: Oblak plays a careless ball out of his box. Eze is this close to intercepting. Atleti go straight up the other end, Llorente freed into the Arsenal box on the right. He cuts back and shoots. Blocked. His cross is too long for Lookman. The flag then pops up for offside. Relief for Arsenal, though had Llorente scored, VAR would have surely got the rulers out and overruled the flag. Llorente was being played on by White.
28 min: Pubill stands on the prone Calafiori’s hand. Accidental? Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.
27 min: Arsenal are now making Atleti do a lot of chasing. The visitors finally intercept, and though Lookman’s probe down the left goes nowhere, that’s a welcome breather for the visitors.
