Mikel Arteta should fire a player who will hinder him from winning the league, not Jorginho, Jesus, or Havertz, according to an Arsenal veteran, because he only completed 6 passes against Spurs and had fewer touches than the goalie.
Arsenal and Spurs drew 2-2 despite missing inspiration in the final third.When Arsenal totally demolished PSV in the Champions League on Wednesday night, it seemed as though they were back in the easy flow that had seen them dominate so much the season before.
The first half of Sunday’s north London derby seemed to reflect that as well.
A ferocious pressing squad led by Mikel Arteta’s men charged at Spurs, forcing them to play through them. Ange Postecoglou’s squad did a good job of handling that element of the problem, to their credit.
It didn’t help them, though, when Bukayo Saka scored on a Cristian Romero wicket deflection to bring them down to 1-0.
Before Saka scored on his own in the second half from the penalty spot, that was considered an own goal. But Heung-min Son’s two goals made sure the score remained 2-2, preventing a triumph.
Arsenal wasn’t performing at its flowing, best. Captain Martin Odegaard only completed 18 passes at a pitiful 64% success rate after a stellar performance in the Champions League a few days prior, and Jorginho, a halftime replacement for the injured Declan Rice, was robbed of the ball by James Maddison in appalling circumstances for Tottenham’s second goal.
The tireless Eddie Nketiah may have been one of the biggest party crashers on Sunday, though.
How did Nketiah perform against the Spurs?
The teenage striker has been Gabriel Jesus’ sage helper throughout 2023.
The Brazilian sustained an injury at the World Cup last winter, which ultimately resulted in him missing a few months of play. Nketiah stepped up and scored against West Ham and Brighton shortly after the break before scoring again, notably the game-winning goal against Manchester United in late January, which caused the Gunners some concern at the time.
He opened the new campaign with goals against Fulham and Nottingham Forest, but ever since Jesus has been fully recovered, his performances have declined.
He was replaced soon after the hour mark against Everton eight days ago, therefore yesterday he most surely shouldn’t have had much more time.
It’s intriguing to ponder whether he would have participated if Leandro Trossard’s practice-related injury hadn’t happened. Jesus was moved to the left side following his performance in Europe, and Nketiah took the lead position once more.
But despite the academy graduate playing the whole 100-minute game, Jesus was replaced after a modest showing in the second half.
Nketiah’s afternoon was arguably the most upsetting for him during the first half. Destiny Udogie’s backpass gave Arsenal’s number 14 a remote chance to score because it beat Micky van de Ven.
