Arsenal : a victory from the heart

At the end of the afternoon, Mikel Arteta’s men were hosting Fulham’s Cottagers, with a fourth win in as many games in their sights. As usual now, the Gunners started strong by putting pressure on their opponent.

But in the first act, the score was tied, because there was one keeper in great form and it was none other than Bernd Leno, the former Arsenal keeper. The former Arsenal goalkeeper, who was unstoppable on his line, had long disgusted some of his former team-mates.

Although they were unable to find the net, the red and whites continued to deliver a serious and diligent performance, like Gabriel in central defence. Ironically, the Brazilian’s ten seconds of inattention and poor control of the ball in the heart of his area led to Serbian monster Alexsandar Mitrovic snatching the ball away from him and scoring with a cross-shot to cool down the Emirates in the 56th minute.

These Gunners have character !

But Arteta’s men are showing things on the mental level that we have not seen in recent seasons with the Gunners. The Spanish coach made some changes with the introduction of young English striker Eddie Nketiah in place of Scottish left-back Kieran Tierney. The young Englishman showed himself to be brilliant both technically and collectively, and this desire to be even more offensive paid off when Odegaard successfully equalised after seeing his shot deflected in (64th minute). The goal was the reward for the Norwegian’s high level of play and the winning spirit displayed by Arsenal.

Carried by the Emirates crowd, the Gunners wanted to win at all costs and began to weaken the Cottagers. They won several corners, all of which were poorly taken by Martinelli, and yet… On the only corner kick that the Brazilian kicked well, everything was reversed : Leno made a rough exit with the presence of William Saliba, and the hitherto unfortunate Gabriel Magalhaes was transformed into a saviour when he managed to capitalise on the ball won by Saliba by sending it into the half-empty goal in a fiery atmosphere (85th minute).

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners pulled off a well-deserved victory with heart and mental fortitude, much to the delight of the fans, who began to sing their famous chants to the glory of certain players.

Next up for the current Premier League leaders : at home against Aston Villa on Wednesday 31 August.