Martinelli silences Bernabeu as Arsenal stuns Madrid
Gabriel Martinelli's late goal sealed a remarkable 2-1 away win, as Arsenal progressed to the Champions League last four with a 5-1 aggregate thrashing of Real Madrid.
Defending a 3-0 lead from the first leg at the Emirates Stadium, Mikel Arteta's side survived the first hour at a boisterous Santiago Bernabeu with little difficulty – and it could have extended its lead early on.
Bukayo Saka saw a penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois, but the Arsenal winger made amends with a 65th-minute opener, only for Vinicius Junior to pull one back from William Saliba's mistake two minutes later.
Martinelli then went racing through in stoppage time, finishing with ease to tee up a semi-final meeting with Paris Saint-Germain, after downing the reigning European champion.
Arteta's side was offered a glorious chance after 13 minutes, when referee Francois Letexier was sent by the VAR to review the touchline monitor after David Alaba's pull on Mikel Merino from a left-sided corner.
Letexier overturned his on-field call, but Courtois scrambled well to parry away after Saka opted to go for a cute dink down the middle, igniting an already rapturous home support into frenzy.
VAR came into play soon after at the other end, though this time, to overturn Letexier's on-field decision of a penalty, after Declan Rice was adjudged to have pulled back Kylian Mbappe from a Madrid free-kick.
Chances remained limited into the second half until Merino's through-ball sent Saka through to chip over an onrushing Courtois, with a finish befitting of a slick team move in the build-up.
Saliba was then caught in possession, however, allowing Vinicius to snatch possession on the edge of the area and fire into the roof of an empty net just 111 seconds later.
Unlike previous years, Vinicius's intervention could not inspire another famous European turnaround as Merino again threaded through for Martinelli to speed in behind, and slide past Courtois to seal a monumental win.
