Mikel Arteta leaves former England midfielder red-faced during Arsenal’s Champions League win
Arsenal opened their Champions League account win a 2-0 win away at Athletic Bilbao thanks to late Gabriel Martinelli heroics.
Martinelli made Arsenal history, scoring 36 seconds after coming off the bench in Arsenal’s win over Athletic Bilbao.
Arsenal’s win at home to Nottingham Forest gave Mikel Arteta’s men momentum, which they carried into Tuesday evening’s game.
Manchester City await Arsenal on Sunday, with the Gunners having an extra two days to prepare for the match, as the Cityzens have to wait until Thursday to play Napoli.
Mikel Arteta leaves Fara Williams red-faced
Arteta was the subject of criticism from Fara Williams after Arsenal lost to Liverpool, with the ex-England midfielder saying the Spaniard waited too long to make substitutions.
“But when you look at those game changing moments, the best managers change things before happen and they get on the back foot or concede,” Williams said.
“He seems to wait until they’re on the back foot and then he reacts to it, he’s very reactive.
On the contrary, BBC 5 Live‘s Paul Robinson was complimentary of Arteta in his coverage of Arsenal’s win over Bilbao.
Arsenal’s two goals came courtesy of substitutes Martinelli and Leandro Trossard, with Robinson saying: “If this game had finished 0-0 I don’t think we’d have been surprised.
“But I actually think the proactiveness that he’s shown, bringing on Martinelli, bringing on Trossard, and at that stage in the game sensing he could make a difference, you’ve got to give him a lot of credit because that has changed the game and won the game.”
Mikel Arteta’s bench makes the difference
During Arsenal’s victory over Nottingham Forest, Stuart Pearce was incredibly positive about the bench options that Arteta has to play with this season.
Against Bilbao, that positivity manifested in goals, as Martinelli and Trossard helped change the dynamic of the game off the bench.
| Gabriel Martinelli vs Athletic Club | |
| Goals | 1 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Minutes played | 19 |
Arteta will have also been boosted by the performance of Cristhian Mosquera, who bossed Arsenal’s backline in the place of the injured William Saliba.
As the fixture list begins to build for Arteta, the Spaniard will be glad to have so many players vying for first-team positions, unlike in previous years.