Mikel Arteta made a mistake before Arsenal’s game against Sunderland on Saturday which may ultimately have cost his team.
Sunderland held Arsenal to a draw at the Stadium of Light, courtesy of a 94th minute equaliser from Brian Brobbey.
The Dutch striker pounced on a loose ball inside the Gunners’ box, hooking it beyond goalkeeper David Raya to rescue the Black Cats a point in the dying embers.
Manchester City subsequently capitalised on this result by beating Liverpool the following day, meaning the gap between the North Londoners and the Citizens now stands at just four points.
Noni Madueke almost made Arsenal’s squad for Sunderland clash
Arsenal have had to deal with a number of injury issues this season.
The likes of Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz have missed the majority of the campaign due to fitness issues, while William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have also spent time on the sidelines.
Noni Madueke has also been injured for a significant portion of the season. The winger has only played 304 minutes of Premier League football for Arsenal since his £52 million move from Chelsea, having sustained a serious knee injury in September against Manchester City.
It’s now been revealed by Simon Collings of the Standard that Madueke was actually close to making the squad for the trip to Wearside on Saturday.
The wide forward has made good progress in his rehabilitation, and could have pushed to make the bench in the north-east.
However, Arsenal ultimately opted not to risk the player for the game, and focus on him being fully fit and raring to go against Tottenham after the international break.
Mikel Arteta made a mistake in not bringing Noni Madueke to Sunderland
Arteta made just one substitution against Sunderland, and this was the first time he’d done this since January.
The Spaniard had no senior attacking options available to him on the bench, with six players out injured, and didn’t trust the likes of Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman to make an impact.
Saka, Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard have been overplayed in recent weeks due to this lack of forward alternatives, and all three players tired significantly as the game went on.
While Sunderland were able to change their entire front three, Arsenal were forced to stick with their fatigued starters.
This clearly impacted the Gunners, who managed just one shot between their second goal and the home team’s equaliser – and it was an effort from Declan Rice from the half-way line.
Arsenal didn’t have the physical capacity to keep attacking to find a third goal and instead sat back, inviting pressure from Sunderland.
Had they had the fresh legs of Madueke to introduce from the bench, even for a 15-minute cameo, this may have made the difference, as the former Chelsea man could’ve exploited the gaps Sunderland were starting to leave and subsequently given Arsenal a two-goal cushion to protect.
It was reasonable for Arsenal to want to protect players when they had an almost fully fit squad, but with so many players out, Madueke arguably should’ve been risked.
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