Arsenal continued their fine run of recent form on Wednesday night with a 2-0 win over Manchester United. It's now four wins in their last four games in all competitions and the result moves them to within seven points of Premier League leaders Liverpool.
However, Mikel Arteta's men weren't quite at their fluid best and struggled to break a stubborn United defence down. Fortunately for the Gunners, they have a secret weapon that rival clubs are yet to counter.
Nico Jover is the mastermind behind Arsenal's sensational set-piece record. On Wednesday, the north Londoners had 13 corners and almost all 13 caused United problems. Jurrien Timber's opener came from Declan Rice's delivery before William Saliba's fortunate goal came from Bukayo Saka's corner.
The German-born, French coach joined Arteta at Arsenal in July 2021 after working with the Spaniard at Manchester City. Last season, the Gunners scored 26 set-piece goals (excluding penalties) in the Premier League, with 16 of them coming from corners. That matched the record in a single Premier League campaign.
Timber and Saliba's goals on Wednesday night mean they have now scored 22 times from corners since the start of last season. "There were a couple tonight that were really good," Rice said on the corner deliveries against United.
"Every time I was going to take the corner, I knew it was going to be a good ball. In my head I was just thinking about putting it in the same spot and with repetition you end up scoring goals."
Even without Gabriel Magalhaes, who scored from set-pieces against Sporting CP and West Ham last week, Arsenal looked dangerous. Jover is normally the one who Arteta heads to straight away when the Gunners do score from a set-piece, with TV cameras often panning to him.
Mikel Arteta and Nicolas Jover
Mikel Arteta has a close relationship with set-piece coach Nicolas Jover (Image: PA)
Asked if the set-piece specialist should be due a goal bonus, Arteta jokingly replied: "That's a question for him and his contract. I don't negotiate contracts!"
Arteta added, speaking in his pre-Man United press conference: "He's a very special person. Obviously someone very, very close to me. I got to work with him at [Manchester] City when I thought there was a big room for improvement in that department and I contacted him and I suggested to Pep [Guardiola] that he come and help us.
"Since then we've been extremely close. We share a very clear vision about how we want to put everything together. It's not about open play or set pieces, it's how everything is connected, aligned and can work efficiently in our team.
"There are a lot of other people that put a big effort and thoughts and hours into that but, for sure, he's someone that is very very important for the team."
After the win over United, Arsenal's set-pieces were, once again, the topic of conversation. Asked if teams are afraid to concede a corner against them, he said: "I don't know. We work on what we work. Attacking the box in various ways. This a way we attack the box and we are very efficient. We will find ways to keep improving."
He continued: "Last year we scored the most goals in the history of this football club. Not because of only set-pieces, because of a lot of things that we have. We want to create individual and magic moments.
"A lot of players can create their own goals. We can create goals from short counters and long counters, slow build ups, restarts and the opportunity to open up the opposition. Every single phase of play let's maximise it, keep working on it, keep improving."
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