Mikel Arteta hailed Christian Norgaard’s impact after Arsenal’s dramatic penalty shootout victory against Crystal Palace in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday. The Gunners secured an 8-7 win in the shootout after a 1-1 draw in regulation time to book a semi-final clash with Chelsea.
Summer signing Norgaard, who has played the full 90 minutes of Arsenal’s previous two EFL Cup matches, was handed a starting role against Palace. In a memorable game, the Dane performed well at the midfield base. The former Brentford man was good at reading the game, snapping into tackles, breaking up play, and putting forward a strong case for more minutes.
Speaking after the match, Arteta was full of praise for Norgaard, highlighting the role he played in the win. He told reporters:
“Very well. He did very, very well. But I'm not surprised that when we brought him and we had those discussions, he understood perfectly what his role was. He's someone that, like Kepa, does everybody around the team much better. And when you need him to play and perform, he does it.”
In 90 minutes on the pitch, Norgaard made eight recoveries and three clearances, won six out of nine duels, made one interception, and wasn’t dribbled past. He received a match rating of 7.1, according to Sofascore. So far this season, Norgaard has made nine appearances for the Gunners but has yet to make a goal contribution.
Mikel Arteta provides injury update on Arsenal duo after Carabao Cup win
Arsenal’s fitness crisis seems to be growing once again as they were dealt a fresh blow ahead of their Carabao Cup clash against Crystal Palace. Piero Hincapie was a surprise absentee from the matchday squad on Tuesday night. The Ecuadorian has recently become an important figure in Arsenal’s backline in the absence of Gabriel Magalhaes and Christian Mosquera.
Since making his first Premier League start against Tottenham Hotspur last month, Hincapie has been a mainstay in Arteta’s XI, starting seven consecutive games across all competitions. However, that run came to an end on Tuesday night as he watched his side defeat Palace from the sidelines.
Arsenal’s injury woes worsened in the second half when Gabriel Martinelli was forced off following a coming together of knees with Jayden Canvot towards the end of the first period.
After the match, Arteta delivered an update on both Hincapie and Martinelli, confirming the former picked up an injury against Everton while the latter suffered a knock.
“Martinelli is more of a knock and he wasn't comfortable to carry on after the second half. With Piero, yeah, something different because he picked up an injury against Everton,” he said.
The Gunners will return to action on Saturday, December 27, hosting Brighton & Hove Albion in a Premier League encounter.