Arsenal had a number of good performers against Leeds United today but former Leeds United defender Dominic Matteo believes one man in particular changed it all.
The Whites had taken the lead when James Justin netted, only for Bruno Guimaraes to come off the bench and score before Riccardo Calafiori once again netted to win the game for the Gunners.
Arsenal now sit level on points at the summit of the Premier League table with Man City and while it wasn’t a vintage performance, Mikel Arteta had options off the bench to change things.
Indeed, according to Matteo, it was one of those subs who very much proved why Arsenal manage to get over the line.
Mikel Arteta and Arsene Wenger
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Bruno Guimaraes named as Arsenal’s difference maker against Leeds
It is still surprising to see Bruno Guimaraes not starting as many games for Arsenal just yet. But when not starting, all he can do is try and contribute off the bench and that’s what he’s doing.
At over £80m, Arsenal have one of the league’s most expensive players on their bench and according to former Leeds man Matteo, it just shows everyone else how far they have to go to match Arsenal.
“It shows the level you have to be. You know, they’ve got a player coming on for, I don’t know what they played for, Guimaraes. It was a lot of money. It just shows,” Matteo commented for the Leeds’ official channels.
“But when he came on, he was maybe the difference because he had that little bit of quality that maybe we need to find in the final third. But yeah, listen, just a bit gutted, to be honest.”
With Guimaraes having now scored two crucial goals in just four appearances for Arsenal already this season, the Brazilian is already showing why the club spent so big on him.
Over the coming weeks and with fixtures coming thick and fast, we can expect to see Bruno starting more and more games. With that, more goals should follow and hopefully, more Arsenal wins.