Mikel Arteta did something against Sunderland that he hasn’t done for almost a year, and many fans believe it cost Arsenal all three points.
The Gunners were held to a 2-2 draw against the Black Cats, conceding a 94th minute equaliser courtesy of Brian Brobbey’s exceptional hooked effort.
Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard had turned the game around for the North Londoners with excellent finishes in the second half, after they’d fallen behind to a Dan Ballard goal.
The result leaves Arsenal seven points clear at the top of the Premier League table ahead of Sunday’s showdown between Manchester City and Liverpool.
Mikel Arteta made one substitute vs Sunderland
Arsenal are currently suffering from something of an injury crisis.
The Gunners were without Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres for the visit to the Stadium of Light.
Arteta subsequently named a bench that consisted of four teenagers, and he clearly didn’t trust any of those he had sat behind him to make an impact.
The Spaniard made just one substitution on the night, bringing Cristhian Mosquera on for Eberechi Eze with a few minutes left to play.
This is the first time he’s made fewer than two subs for 43 games, in a clash against Aston Villa at the Emirates in January, 294 days ago.
Arsenal fans, unsurprisingly, felt this was the wrong decision from Arteta. One fan took to X to express his frustrations with the lack of trust in his bench.
He wrote: “Arteta’s game management today was awful! How can you let the midfield be exposed for 14 minutes? He took off Eberechi Eze and brought Cristhian Mosquera on, when he knew that [Martin] Zubimendi and [Declan] Rice are tired. We needed troops in the midfield not in defence, [Cristhian] Norgaard was the answer to protect the 3pts, not Mosquera.”
Another fan added: “The last 15 minutes, I felt we were a bit tired and leggy. We need those big guns up front after International break.”
One fan simply said: “And it bit us big time.”
Christian Norgaard should’ve come on for Arsenal against Sunderland
Arsenal spent £13 million on Christian Norgaard in the summer to provide Martin Zubimendi with cover and competition.
However, the Dane was also brought in to help the Gunners see close games out late on. He was specifically signed for scenarios like the one Arsenal found themselves in at the Stadium of Light.
The North London outfit needed an additional defensive midfielder to sit in front of the back four and make tackles, interceptions and clearances in the final five or ten minutes, yet Arteta chose to ignore Norgaard.
The tactician can be forgiven for not wanting to bring one of the younger players on to the pitch in such a high-pressure, hostile environment, but an experienced Premier League professional like Norgaard may have thrived in this particular scenario.
Ultimately, Arteta missed a trick here, and it may have cost his team two points.
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