Arsenal lost on penalties to Liverpool last night – but Mesut Ozil impressed.
Arsenal boss Unai Emery finally backed down on Wednesday night, giving Mesut Ozil a chance to shine – and he really took his opportunity.
The Gunners headed up to Anfield to take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup last night, and more than a month since his last appearance for the club, Ozil was in the starting line-up.
The German showed his composure by setting up Lucas Torreira’s goal with a fine pass, making it 1-1 before Gabriel Martinelli added a quickfire brace.
At 3-2, Ozil produced his big moment of the night, as the ball appeared to be going out of play, but Ozil conjured up an outstanding backheel flick to pick out Ainsley Maitland-Niles to score.
Ozil was eventually substituted in favour of Matteo Guendouzi, and Arsenal end up drawing 5-5 before losing on penalties, with Dani Ceballos failing to beat Caoimhin Kelleher in the shootout.
Fans pointed to Ozil’s substitution as the turning point, but Emery defended himself after the game by suggesting that the substitution at that point was always in the plan.
Emery may not be Ozil’s biggest fan but surely even he can’t deny that Ozil was impressive last night, and he’ll surely have to consider him for this weekend’s game with Wolves.
Pundits raved about Ozil’s display, with Ian Wright lauding Ozil for his composure in the final third, his ability to find space and just an all-round ‘fantastic’ display.
Jamie Carragher also hailed Ozil’s assist as ‘fantastic’, whilst Trevor Sinclair and Jimmy Bullard hailed his inventiveness for the goal, with ex-Arsenal youngster Charlie Gilmour still confident that the German is the best number 10 in the world.
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