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LONDON. — Mikel Arteta heaped praise on his attacking stars following Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Leeds United in the English Premiership football on Saturday night.
Victory for the Gunners, courtesy of goals from Gabriel Martinelli (2), Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, were enough to hand the visitors maximum points and keep their top four chances on track.
Martinelli’s brace took him to four for the season while Smith Rowe came off the bench to net his seventh league goal of the campaign, much to the delight of his manager.
“It was a really tough week but really positive with performances and results. We must be happy today,” Arteta said.
“They had to play the most physical team in the league and they had to be ready. We had a nightmare to come to the hotel.
“They (the young players) are learning and they’re making a difference in the game. The senior players are playing a big role too.
“That’s what he (Gabriel Martinelli) can do. He’s getting a level of maturity. He’s so willing to learn. His passion in life is football. You can see that on the pitch.
“(Emile Smith Rowe has scored) seven in the league which is a remarkable figure. We wanted him to add it to his game.”
Alexandre Lacazette led the line up front wearing the captain’s armband following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s exile but failed to find the back of the net.
However his hold up play and work rate off the ball still impressed Arteta.
“He has a big talent — he makes the players around him better,” he added.
“It was a great performance from the lads. They’re the ones who have to execute [the game plan] against a team who are uncomfortable to play against.
“We’ve had three games in a week, very physical games. I’m very pleased.
“We had some intentions. I think the players understood the game really well. We were really effective and in the first half we were really good. I think we deserved these three wins and we’re really pleased.”
Arteta has revealed Takehiro Tomiyasu was taken off against Leeds with a muscle injury, while also confirming Pablo Mari wasn’t involved on Saturday after testing positive for coronavirus.
In a match that Arteta will take plenty of positives from, there was one concern with defender Tomiyasu, who was taken off in the second half not long after being on the receiving end of crunching tackle on his ankle.
But the Spaniard says it was regarding a muscular issue instead.
“No it was more a muscular issue,” Arteta explained. “Obviously, he’s got a big load on him. “He’s played every single minute since he joined us and even this week he’s been a little bit struggling.
“So we decided to take him off, he wasn’t 100% confident to continue in the game and hopefully he’s not injured.”
Arsenal’s match against Leeds was the only English Premier League game to take place on Saturday with five other games postponed due to Covid-19 outbreaks.
Arteta confirmed before kick-off that Albert Sambi Lokonga missed the game after testing positive and at full-time he revealed defender Mari was the latest Arsenal star forced into isolation.
Asked why their London Colney training ground was shut on Thursday, Arteta said: “Pure precaution because we had some cases in the staff and we wanted to prevent any issues.
“Everybody we have seen around us, when they have a few cases the cases have risen.
“We wanted to protect our people and Gary (O’Driscoll) and the medical staff made the right call, to try to close it for a day, stay away from the place, make sure that all the tests from everybody were negative and make sure that when we were back, everybody was safe.
“We had another player, as well Pablo has Covid, so unfortunately they (Mari and Lokonga) will be out.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal legend Ian Wright reckons Smith Rowe has given Arteta a difficult problem regarding his starting options after his Leeds display.
The Gunners saw off Leeds in comfortable fashion on Saturday night with a 4-1 win to consolidate their fourth place spot in the English Premier League table.
Lacazette led the line for the Gunners while Saka and Martinelli (2) on either flank both grabbed the goals in the first half.
It meant Smith Rowe had to settle for a spot on the bench before being introduced for Saka on 78 minutes.
Just six minutes later and the 21-year-old got on the scoresheet to score his seventh league goal of the season — much to the delight of Wright.
“At the moment what he’s doing in brilliant,” he told English Premier League productions. — Metro.
Online Reporter