Arsenal discover four potential Champions League last-16 opponents after comeback win
Arsenal discover four potential Champions League last-16 opponents after comeback win
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DUBAI here they come. Ethan Nwaneri produced a moment of brilliance to seal a third-place finish for Arsenal that ensures Mikel Arteta can take his team on a warm-weather camp next month. Having embarked on a relentless run after a break in the UAE last January, Arteta will be hoping another spell in the sun can similarly rejuvenate his team.
And with 10 days off from February 5, the exhausted Gunners shall be glad of some respite. This was harder work than expected as Arnaut Danjuma put Girona, already out of contention, ahead before Jorginho levelled from the spot. Then Nwaneri, 17, became the second youngest Englishman to score in the Champions League – bettered only by Jude Bellingham – by dispatching a ferocious attempt from the edge of the box.
“That's what we love about him,” Arteta said. “He's very aggressive. He made the right choice, he went for it.”. Arteta had changed seven of the team that started away to Wolves but it was still a side packed with experience, Nwaneri aside. And having waited five months, loanee Neto became Arsenal’s oldest debutant for 110 years – aged 35 years and 194 days.
But this was an anxious outing for the goalkeeper who featured because David Raya was carrying a knock. “He’s injured, let's see how he improves,” coy Arteta said ahead of Sunday’s visit of Man City to the Emirates. Neto went walkabout for Danjuma’s goal having been close to gifting Girona an opener two minutes in with a nightmare first touch that was charged down by Yaser Asprilla.
