There was a silver lining for Arsenal against Manchester United, despite more dropped points in the Premier League.
Arsenal salvaged a point against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday evening but it allowed Liverpool to widen the chasm in points between themselves and the London outfit to a huge 15 points.
The Gunners may now have to finally accept that there is no catching the Reds but Mikel Arteta still has plenty to play for with Nottingham Forest just four points behind in third and the Champions League ongoing. Next up is the second leg round of 16 meeting with PSV Eindhoven, although a 7-1 win in the first leg should allow Mikel Arteta to rotate, before an enticing London derby against Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal will be licking their wounds after the point against Manchester United but there was some good news to come from that match. Gabriel Martinelli returned to the matchday squad after missing three league games, coming back from a hamstring injury earlier than initially thought.
Arsenal handed injury boost against Man Utd
Just last week, Arteta claimed that the Brazil international was still ‘a bit far from coming back’ and it seemed a return before the international break was ambitious. However, Martinelli was then named in the Brazil squad and then on the bench against Manchester United.
The winger was given 32 minutes to make an impact against Ruben Amorim’s side with Arsenal grabbing their equaliser after he came onto the pitch. Martinelli did look slightly rusty, missing a golden chance, but his added impetus and drive was clearly a huge boost for the side.
Martinelli’s return to fitness ahead of time is particularly welcome ahead of the Chelsea clash. The forward has only lost once to the Blues in nine fixtures since arriving at Arsenal, and that was back in 2021.
Martinelli record vs Chelsea
The player scored in his first ever match against Chelsea and was on target in the 1-1 draw against Enzo Maresca’s men earlier this season. Martinelli’s goal in that match was crucial as Arsenal came from behind to take something from that game.
It was a relentless display at Stamford Bridge, which came in the face of criticism for his form at the time. In their player ratings, Goal praised a player who ‘never gave up’ and was the spark to get Arsenal back into the match. The outlet wrote: “Never gave up after a difficult first half, and got his rewards by scoring Arsenal's opener.”
Chelsea, who just managed to beat Leicester City 1-0 on Sunday, go into the next Premier League fixture off back-to-back wins having thrashed Southampton 4-0 at the end of February. Meanwhile, the Gunners are winless in their last three league outings following defeat to West Ham and a draw with Nottingham Forest.
Speaking after the Manchester United fixture, Arteta said: "Very frustrated we haven't won because of the dominance and control we had especially in the first half. Out of nothing we gave the ball away. In the second half we tried and we generated the goal. We had them and you could feel that they were really fatigued and we gave them life.
"Intensity [was missing], the threat in the final 25 meters to make something happen. Besides that we were incredible. You come here, you are playing for what you are playing and you want to win the game. Today is frustration.
"When we had them, in the first half, we were exceptional in the high press. We lacked to put the knife there in the last 25 meters. We missed the last shot, the last pass, and then in one action, a long ball... they become alive. We didn't capitalize. We gave so many balls away, started to lose duels, and we could've end up losing it."
In other news, Arsenal have reportedly agreed to fork out £62 million for a key talisman target.