£15m star abysmal, Mikel Merino amazing – Arsenal’s winners and losers vs Slavia Prague
Arsenal were looking to continue their 100% record in the Champions League with a trip to Slavia Prague.
Mikel Arteta made four changes to the Arsenal side that secured a 2-0 victory over Burnley in the Premier League, including a second start for Piero Hincapie, while Mikel Merino, Ethan Nwaneri and Christian Norgaard were all named in the starting lineup.
Arsenal drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Bukayo Saka slotted home a calmly taken penalty for his fifth goal of the season, and from there, the Gunners produced a professional performance at the Fortuna Arena.
Merino, who started in the absence of Viktor Gyokeres, doubled his side’s lead with a tidy finish shortly after half-time before grabbing a brace to secure the Gunners a 3-0 victory.
As Arteta’s troops continued their 100% record in the Champions League, here are the winners and losers from the match.
Winners
Piero Hincapie
The beginning of Hincapie’s Arsenal career has been blighted by injuries, along with the unbreakable partnership of Gabriel and William Saliba.
But Hincapie, who made his first Arsenal start against Brighton in their Carabao Cup victory, came into the team at left-back against Slavia Prague ahead of Riccardo Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
It was the perfect opportunity for the 23-year-old, who grasped it with open arms by producing an assured display on the left side of defence, combining his skill in possession with bravery in the tackle.
Hincapie won 100 per cent of his ground duels (6/6) and completed 74 per cent of passes (14/19), two statistics that did his chances of starting in the future no harm.
Mikel Merino
Arteta shared a concerning update on Gyokeres ahead of their trip to the Czech Republic, with the Swede suffering from a muscular problem.
It isn’t known whether the 27-year-old could return for their visit to Sunderland this weekend, but in the forward’s absence, Merino impressed as a striker.
| Mikel Merino’s stats vs Slavia Prague |
| 95 minutes played |
| 2 goals |
| 22/30 accurate passes (73%) |
| 3 fouls drawn |
| 4 aerial duels won |
The Spaniard used his physicality against a giant Prague defence to hold up the ball superbly, while dropping deeper to link play.
Merino was also in the right place at the right time to slide the ball past Jakub Markovic before grabbing another poacher’s type goal, capping off a perfect striker’s performance and proving why he’s more than capable of replacing Gyokeres when needed.
Losers
Ethan Nwaneri
Nwaneri made his first Champions League start of the campaign against Slavia Prague, and unfortunately, the 18-year-old failed to have a telling impact on the contest.
After Nwaneri starred against Brighton in the Carabao Cup, Arteta would have expected him to have a similar influence, but the youngster struggled to get on the ball and make things happen.
| Ethan Nwaneri stats vs Slavia Prague |
| 65 minutes played |
| 6x possession lost |
| 0 accurate crosses |
| 2/7 ground duels won |
| 2 key passes |
In a central role, the Englishman needed to drop deeper to collect the ball and link play, just like Martin Odegaard usually does, and he sadly failed to do that.
Christian Norgaard
Arsenal signed Christian Norgaard for £15million from Brentford during the summer as a direct replacement for midfield maestro Jorginho.
The 31-year-old was brought in as a backup for the suspended Martin Zubimendi, making his first Champions League start against Prague.
But on a night where he needed to send a message to Arteta with a solid performance, the Denmark international did the opposite.
Norgaard was a bit slack with his passing and was sometimes slow to read the game, which is perhaps why most of his minutes have come in the Carabao Cup.