Arsenal cruised to a big victory with a dominant display in Lisbon.

Gabriel Martinelli scored an early opener, Kai Havertz followed with a goal, and Gabriel’s header enabled the Gunners to build a surprising 3-0 lead at the break.

Sporting pulled one back in the second half via Gonçalo Inácio, but Bukayo Saka’s penalty and Leandro Trossard’s header ended any hope with a 5-1 result.

The loss ends Sporting’s six-match streak without a loss against Premier League clubs.

New manager Joao Pereira had a nightmare night in his second official match in charge.

“The truth is that we didn’t start the game well, we conceded too early, which made the team feel uneasy,” said Pereira. “Finishing the first half 3-0 down, the players felt it a little. We adjusted a little in the second half, the players had an excellent reaction, then, with the penalty, we conceded the fourth goal and everything just became more complicated.”

Pereira praised the support in Alvalade “The fans? They’ve shown that they’re with the team. Because of this result, we just have to make it up to them in the next game.”

Francisco Trincão was frustrated at the result “We knew it would be a difficult match, they managed to have the ball for long spells. We started well in the second half, but then we conceded the fourth goal and the performance dropped a bit.”

Martin Hjulmand felt the squad allowed the Gunners too much space. “We gave Arsenal a lot of chances in the first half and they were very effective. It was a tough night. But the important thing now is to keep our heads up, we have an important game against Santa Clara on Saturday and we have to focus on that now. We’re going to analyze this game through the video because it wasn’t good enough for us.”

Mikel Arteta was impressed with how his squad played in Lisbon ad feels good heading back to London. “Dominating and scoring goals against a team that hasn’t lost a game in 18 months here – it’s no easy task and we’ve certainly done that. Obviously, we are really disappointed about the corner [Gonçalo Inácio scored]. They managed to score and you can see the quality, how well-organised they are, how they are coached really well against us.”

Sporting will look to bounce back this weekend with a Liga match on Saturday against Santa Clara. They are undefeated in Liga this season with a +34 goal difference.