Slowly but surely, **Arsenal**fans have had to accept that Gabriel Martinelli might not be the man to start as a left winger in a Premier League winning outfit. But he is more than good enough to be a part of the squad, and he rightly received the Player of the Match Award away at Athletic Club.
Athletic Club had last played in the Champions League 11 seasons ago. This fixture was a massive occasion for the club, and their high press in the first fifteen minutes of the match made clear their intent at the San Mames. Martinelli was happy to be the man who made the difference for Arsenal.
"I'm really happy with the result, the goal and the assist. To win a game in Bilbao is really difficult, and I thought the team did really well, especially in the second half.”
He replaced Eberechi Eze as the left winger, and Leandro Trossard also took the place of Viktor Gyökeres as the central forward. The Brazilian burst onto the scene with an instant impact, gambling on a flick from his teammate to break through on the counter before he slotted away past Unai Simón.
"When I came on, I just tried to get in behind. It was just a minute after I came on, and I wanted to just see where I could find space. I'd said to the guys on the bench that there was a huge space in behind. Leo saw me, it was a great ball from him and I just tried to put the ball in the net.”
The 24-year-old returned the favour to the Belgian super sub with an assist in the 87th minute.
"For the second goal, I just tried to go past my man and look back to find someone in the box, and I knew that Athletic Club were tired as well. I was able to find Leo, and he did the rest."
‘You go to win every game’
The winger gave an **Athletic Club**fan his shirt at full time and praised them for their support.
"**Athletic Club* have a really good team and nice fans - the atmosphere was amazing - and we did well to control some parts of the game. They did well too, but we were clinical and deserved to win.”*
Martinelli hammered home how important it was to win despite the display not being dominant.
*"When you play for Arsenal, you go to win every game, so it's really good to start with the victory.”*
The Brazilian was rumoured to be leaving this summer. But he expressed his pride as a player for the Gunners, and the depth throughout the squad could be the factor that pushes the team towards glory.
“The most important thing was to win the game. We know how big we are when we have this badge on our chest, and with the family we have. We're a big club and we want to win every single match."