The kind of form Arsenal have been in this season, it was nothing surprising to see West Ham take the lead in first half. Angelo Ogbonna’s deflected header gave Hammers the lead and they were in total control until the 18-year old Brazilian showed up to inject life in Arsenal, who had been dreadful until the equalizer came. Until last night, Gabriel Martinelli did not start as a starter at Premier League. All his previous 7 appearances for Arsenal started-off from the bench and overall, he played just 96 minutes.
Last night, he started on the right of an attacking midfield
trio alongside Nicolas Pepe and Mesut Ozil and behind Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang, but was given the freedom to move from right to the centre – you
give a Brazilian the freedom and he would deliver the best. Martinelli is no
different from other Brazilian talents.
He was agile in his position and produced quick movements,
which resulted in his first Premier League goal. Until that goal was scored,
Arsenal had been dreadful. Yet another disgraceful defeat was on the cards for
them. Sead Kolasinac’s run into the box and pulled back to find Martinelli in
the ideal position to fire home the equalizer.
Then two more goals came in just 9 minutes. Pepe scored the
second and Aubameyang the third, while Ozil was instrumental in setting up
those goals. But all those inspirational moves would not have happened if
Martinelli’s equalizer did not come.
As a matter of fact, Martinelli is becoming the x-factor,
which Arsenal badly need. He seems to be habituated to score goals in desperate
situations. One could witness his Midas touch in the Europa League and Carabao
Cup – 7 goals in 6 appearances including that madness against Liverpool at
Anfield where struck twice in a 5-5 encounter.
Apart from his agility from the flanks to centre,
Martinelli’s speciality is that at this age he is well aware from which
position he could score and his strikes are well-measured. Linking-up with
players around him is another quality of Martinelli. Not all are such matured
at this age, but Martinelli seems to gel very well with his teammates and so
far he has commanded love and respect from them.
Interim coach Freddie Ljungberg said, “We want to get the
energy into the team and shake things up a bit. He has done very well in Europa
League games, looks dangerous, score goals and works hard. He runs in behind,
he is really quick and I think he’ll do well”.
Hard work, yes! Martinelli works hard to polish his games
and it was evident last night. No Arsenal players had control over the ball
than Martinelli. None of his teammates made more tackles and blocks. None of
them displayed the intensity more than Martinelli. This intensity would set him
apart from others.
Unai Emery unleashed Martinelli and Ljungberg would certainly
stick with.
The boy is a gem.
Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 10/12/2019 Gabriel Martinelli might be the Xfactor for Arsenal
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
No comments:
Post a Comment