Arsenal's out-of-favour forwards Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard sent a timely reminder to manager Mikel Arteta on Tuesday night, coming off the bench against Athletic Club to ensure the Gunners started their Champions League campaign with a hard-fought 2-0 win. The north Londoners' expensively-assembled attack struggled to break down the hosts' defence, but the two players who have been linked with an Emirates exit delivered in style late on.
The north London team eased past Athletic Club 3-0 in a pre-season friendly last month but this was a much tougher test this time out. Arsenal spent more than £170 million ($232m) on a new attack comprising of Viktor Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze, and Noni Madueke, but it was Martinelli who unlocked the Spanish outfit's defence.
A little over 30 seconds after emerging from the bench, the Brazilian made a 40-yard run and slotted a finish underneath the goalkeeper with just under 20 minutes left on the clock.
The 24-year-old, who - like Trossard - has been linked with an Arsenal departure, then set up his fellow substitute to put the game to bed three minutes from time and secure the three points in what was a tricky away trip to begin their league phase in the Champions League.
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