Pundit hails £21m Arsenal player’s single act ‘as good as a goal’ vs Brentford

Add as preferred source on Google

Scott Minto has praised Jakub Kiwior for his goal-line clearance that was ‘as good as a goal’ to ensure Arsenal did not need a shootout to beat Brentford in the Carabao Cup.

The Gunners eked out a 1-0 win at the Gtech Community Stadium on Wednesday with Reiss Nelson hitting the winner. He scored after eight minutes as Nathan Collins failed to intercept Eddie Nketiah’s pass. But Arsenal required Kiwior to stop Brentford from equalising later on.

Keane Lewis-Potter had a great chance to be the Bees’ hero in the 84th minute of the third-round tie. He found space at the far post after losing Takehiro Tomiyasu. Yet Kiwior read the play brilliantly to cover the far corner of Aaron Ramsdale’s net and keep the Gunners ahead.

Kiwior impressed Minto as Arsenal beat Brentford on Wednesday

Ramsdale stood no chance of saving Lewis-Potter’s attempt with the goalkeeper beaten by the substitute’s strike. Kiwior came to his rescue, however, and blocked the ball toward the shot-stopper. And Minto believes denying Brentford their equaliser was as good as scoring.

“Kiwior gets on the line, makes a clearance and that is as good as a goal,” he told talkSPORT. “That stops penalties.”

Kiwior’s block was just his highlight moment in the Carabao Cup

Kiwior certainly did excellently to deny Lewis-Potter from the defender’s goal-line clearance to see Arsenal beat Brentford. But not only was his anticipation of where the forward would shoot impressive. He also did superbly to divert the ball to Ramsdale and away from the net.

It was also only the highlight moment from a largely impressive performance in the Carabao Cup. Kiwior showed Mikel Arteta what he can offer Arsenal when given a start with a poised performance from left-back. He then played a central defensive role for the final 20 minutes.

Arteta may still want Kiwior to offer Arsenal more going forward than he showed defensively at Brentford, though. The 23-year-old did not deliver much in the Gunners’ attacks. But their £21m January transfer from Spezia proved that he can be important while seeing out games.