Arsenal’s win against Bournemouth belonged to Declan Rice, but the Englishman wasn’t the only one to cause the Cherries problems.
Rice scored the first Premier League brace of his career against Bournemouth, netting two goals to help Arsenal on their way to a statement win.
It was a huge win for the Gunners, who became only the second team to beat Andoni Iraola’s side at the Vitality in the league this season.
Iraola was impressed with a handful of Arsenal players, shining a light on the central defensive pairing of Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba, but his players might have a different takeaway of which Gunner caused the most problems.
Fill in the blank: Arsenal will take __ points from their next five PL matches…
Bournemouth struggled to contain Piero Hincapie
Gabriel is unstoppable from set-piece situations, as he showed against Bournemouth by scoring his fourth goal of the season.
It was, however, a different member of Arsenal’s back four that truly tested the Cherries, as the numbers reveal Piero Hincapie’s impact.
In 90 minutes, no player on the pitch was fouled more times than Hincapie, who drew three fouls when defending the left side.
Fill the blanks: I think Mikel Arteta should start _________ at left-back when Arsenal’s squad is fully fit
Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie, Myles Lewis-Skelly…who gets your pick?
Tested against Antoine Semenyo, it was never going to be an easy outing for Hincapie, but the Ecuadorian found a way to make himself as much of a nuisance as the Manchester City-bound winger.
From duel-winning to foul-drawing, Bournemouth found it difficult to contain Hincapie, who covered Riccardo Calafiori’s absence impressively.
Hincapie has split opinion among fans since making the move to Arsenal, but as his performance against Bournemouth revealed, he’s more than capable of playing a significant role in the squad.
Hincapie’s greatest strength since joining Arsenal has been overlooked
When Arsenal agreed a loan deal to sign Hincapie on deadline day of the summer transfer window, many wondered what Andrea Berta was thinking.
You have £45m to spend on a defender, do you pay for Piero Hincapie or sign someone else?
It rapidly became clear why the Gunners recruited the Ecuadorian, as despite possessing a vast array of defenders, Arsenal’s injury record proved it wasn’t enough.
What is so often overlooked about Hincapie is that he arrived at Arsenal at the deep end, joining the squad after the season had commenced, swapping Bayer Leverkusen’s tactics for Arteta’s.
With no pre-season and no time to get familiar with his new home, the 23-year-old has proven to be a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League.
Given that this is a rather unpolished version of Hincapie, Arsenal will be overjoyed with their summer recruit.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
