Gabriel Martinelli offered food for thought for Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta today.
The Brazilian has barely played in the Premier League for Arsenal this season.
Before today, Martinelli had only managed 180 minutes in this competition.
But the 20-year-old reminded Arteta and Gunners fans of his quality with a fine finish for his side’s second goal against Newcastle.
Martinelli came off the bench to replace the injured Bukayo Saka and doubled Arsenal’s lead within two minutes of coming on.
He made a very difficult skill look relatively effortless and here’s how club legend Cesc Fabregas reacted to the goal on Twitter:
Huge
The timing of this is brilliant for Arsenal.
With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe set to be absent from late December onwards due to the Africa Cup of Nations, Arteta’s going to need Martinelli.
And what a boost it’ll be if the South American can go into this period on the back of some pretty good form.
Granted, Aubameyang and Pepe won’t be leaving for international duty for about a month, but this goal still sets up Martinelli to be a big player.
Everyone knows about how good he is, despite not showing it all that regularly.
But scoring today, combined with big absences next month, could see the youngster come to the fore in a big, big way.
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