"It's really bad news" – Nwaneri injury adds to Arsenal woes
01/04/2025 03:21 PM
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Ethan Nwaneri was substituted at half time the 1-1 draw with Brighton due to a muscular problem.
The 17-year-old winger had given the Gunners the lead on 16 minutes – his fifth goal of the season – but he didn’t reappear for the second half. Initially, the decision to replace him with Gabriel Martinelli was attributed to the youngster picking up a booking for time-wasting, but Arteta later confirmed to BBC Match of the Day that the decision wasn’t tactical.
“It’s really bad news because I think we’ve lost him, we had to take him off at half-time with some muscular issues,” he said.
Nwaneri started on the right flank for the second consecutive game in the absence of Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling. With his impressive impact, losing the England Under-21 international to injury adds to the manager’s frustrations, especially with seven more games on the horizon this month.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the manager lamented the failure of his side to do the basics handed further initiative to Liverpool in the title race.
“Obviously we wanted to win the game. This is a tough place to come and they are a very good side. We started well, scored a beautiful goal and we were in control,” he said.
“In the second half we didn’t really grab the game or dominate enough to have certain moments and be more of a threat in their half. But defensively we did not concede much apart from the transition moment with Minteh.
He added: “When you are playing every three days or less than that you cannot with the amount of injuries and situations maintain the level of performance and competitiveness. Today we lacked it in the second half.
“Today was not about fatigue. it was about the simple things that we have to do in ball possession to give chances and dominate the game in the right areas.”
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