Perhaps the main story from Arsenal’s 5-0 drubbing of Nottingham Forest was Reiss Nelson’s surprise brace off the bench.
The Hale End graduate ended his 837-day goal drought by scoring twice in the space of four minutes to ensure the Gunners were taking home the all-important 3 points on Sunday.
To cap off a fine outing, the Englishman was also at hand for the assist to Thomas Partey, who scored a thunderous strike past Dean Henderson.
Aside from Nelson’s fruitful display, perhaps what was even more surprising was to see him chosen as the player to replace the injured Bukayo Saka.
While many expected Fabio Vieira to be brought in as the substitute, especially after operating as a right winger in Arsenal’s recent 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven, Reiss Nelson was introduced to proceedings instead.
However, the man himself was anything but surprised by his introduction, as he lifted the lid on Mikel Arteta’s plans for him at the start of the season.
“I spoke with the boss before the start of the season and he was very clear with me.
He said he’s seen a transition in my game and my attitude, which he really likes and he thinks that can really benefit the team. There was no talks with me about leaving in the summer”, he told GOAL.
While Nelson impressed during his loan spell at Feyenoord last term, it’s safe to say that he could not have the heights he initially expected, due to suffering untimely injuries.
However, this has been a recurring theme in the 22-year old’s stop-start career so far.
It seems as if Arteta has always taken a liking to the youngster, as he made him an instant starter during his early days as Arsenal boss as well.
Ultimately, one hopes Mikel Arteta keeps working his magic with Reiss Nelson, who has all the talent in the world to set his career back on track at his boyhood club.
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