If you could dream up a scenario which might have secured striker-less Arsenal a victory in their first game following the loss of Kai Havertz, Mikel Merino jumping off the bench to leap and meet Ethan Nwaneri’s perfect cross would probably have been one of the scenarios.
Then, sealing the game with a second, minutes later, to eradicate any nerves was near-perfect.
Everything that happened prior to the goal, however, was anything but perfect; but more on that later. The win takes Arsenal within four points of Liverpool and adds pressure to their title rivals as they host Wolves on Sunday afternoon.
Make no mistake, Liverpool players, staff, and fans will have been looking at the clock ticking down and hoping of restoring their nine-point lead after the draw in the Merseyside derby.
The late goals might have tested the Gunners’ resolve and composure, but a comfortable win might not have had the same mental implications for their rivals.
Mikel Arteta spoke after the game after being asked whether Merino is indeed now the solution. Of course, that is not the case, nor should it be, but he is an option, and the manager certainly wants the burden to be shared.
“Yes, we’re going to have to share that [role], and we know that,” he said.
“We’re going to have various contexts, sometimes we’re going to have to make a sub because a player is not performing or because the opposition is doing something else or because he’s got a yellow card or he’s fatigued.
“And that’s going to restrict what we can do, really, in terms of the personnel. But we have prepared for different scenarios.
“Then those scenarios have to work. Hopefully, they will work as good as Mikel worked today.”
The next player to come back is expected to be Gabriel Martinelli, but the Gunners will need to find a way of navigating the upcoming handful of games without him. Most would say that West Ham at home, like against Leicester, is an expectation for Arsenal to find a way through relatively comfortably and claim three points.
But the trip to Nottingham Forest, a ground where Arsenal have notoriously struggled to get a result, losing in the league and cup with many more senior forwards available to them, will be a far sterner test. Yet what these games offer is a significant momentum and morale-boosting reward should they find a way to win.
Arsenal would drop points in just two matches in the whole of the second half of the previous season. With the win over Leicester, the club remain just three points off the tally at the same stage of the previous season.
Arteta was blessed to have many more options during that period than will be at his disposal this time. What he is able to utilise is the talent of his two young superstars, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Both had massive roles in the win, and the latter’s touch to prevent Bobby De Cordova-Reid tapping in to give the home side the lead could prove to be title-defining come the end of the season. At the very least, it is the bedrock to the victory.
Ethan Nwaneri was trying his absolute utmost to find a way to win the game for Arsenal, hitting both the crossbar and the post with two outrageous efforts on the Foxes’ goal. It would be the shift to crossing, courtesy of the unorthodox target man in Merino, which would deliver him what he had been probing for.
Arsenal struggled to have much of an impact in the first half, in particular. Arteta started with who most would have selected, as Nwaneri was joined by the unorthodox centre-forward Leandro Trossard and left-winger Raheem Sterling. Based on the performance alone, a newcomer to the game might not have guessed which of the trio is the 17-year-old as opposed to the 30-year-old plus stars who offered very little.
Sterling was particularly ineffective and was caught offside an uncomfortable number of times in positions you could argue it is basic wing play to look down the line to ensure you are not in danger of straying to break up your own promising forward moves.
It was, therefore, little surprise that the Chelsea loanee was hooked before anyone else, and a structural change saw Merino and Declan Rice operate as makeshift forwards in a 4-4-2 shape of sorts, which then reverted to a 4-3-3 soon after. I asked Arteta whether he might opt in future to hold a senior forward on the bench to offer something later in games, and while he didn’t at Leicester, the performances may change that.
“Yeah, that’s a good point, and sometimes it’s a way of twisting your thinking and probably exposing the player in an environment that is from the beginning and is a bit easier,” he replied at Friday’s press conference. “We’ll have to cope with different contexts, probably and some of them that we haven’t even imagined or can’t really plan today, but we are ready.”|
It turns out they were ready, eventually. Merino himself has been the target of some, in my view, hyperbolic criticism for his contributions this season.
For a player new to the league, unable to transition with a pre-season and suffering a broken bone injury in his first training session, the discourse has been incredibly harsh. It was important for the Gunners to bring in another midfielder, particularly a left-eight, and Merino was indeed was one of the best available on the market.
He has scored in big games, including Liverpool at home and Brentford away this season, and these two strikes are just more examples of why he was signed. He may not be the most glamorous of additions, but his contribution will truly be measured come May and beyond.
