Arsenal News: English Premier League giants Arsenal kicked off their Europa League campaign with a narrow 2-1 victory over Swiss Super League Club FC Zurich.
The Gunners had a nervous start to the game. Arteta’s second goalkeeper, Matt Turner, clearly struggled in the opening minutes and came close to giving a goal away. But as soon as Marquinhos drew first blood, Arsenal became more dominant.
The Gunners dominated the rest of the half but couldn’t add to their lead. In the second half, Zürich came with intensity and scored a penalty that Mirlind Kryeziu converted. Shortly after, however, Arsenal took the lead again as Eddie Nketiah committed the foul by conceding the penalty scored with a header. Zurich then came out with everything but the Gunners were able to deflect the danger.
Here are the three talking points of this pulsing loop.
Arsenal News: Marquinhos, one of the future
Marcus Vinicius Oliveira Alencar o Marqunihos joined Arsenal from Brazilian club Sao Paulo at the start of the season.
The Brazilian finally got his chance yesterday and proved his worth. In his first game with the club he showed great composure and composure in front of goal and gave Arsenal the lead. Marqinhos’ goal helped Arsenal shake off their nerves and take control of the match. In the second half, he provided a brilliant cross to his strike partner Nketiah, who did not fail to convert it into a goal.
With this brilliant outing, the Brazilian has now ensured he gets playing time in the upcoming matches and stays in the thick of things.
Eddie Nketiah got clutch
Arsenal’s 23-year-old English striker Eddie Nketiah arrived at a decisive moment to secure three points for the Gunners. Throughout the match, all the spotlight was on him as he was part of all three goals of the match.
In the first half, the English striker made a very intelligent pass to Marqunihos, which the Brazilian finished off with great serenity. However, he soon became a villain for the Gunners as it was he who made the mistake of giving Zurixh a penalty.
However, the English striker soon corrected his mistake and headed Arsenal. Nketiah has so far made 40 starts for the Gunners and has scored 19 goals. The forward’s good performance in the attacking third will only make Arteta happy.
Fabio Vierra shines
The 22-year-old Portuguese midfielder Fabio Vierra put in a standout performance on his full debut. Vierra, since joining the Gunners, has appeared in only one game previously when he put on an energetic display in his last game against United. However, this time he was finally included in the starting eleven and given the opportunity to show his mettle.
Played as an attacking No. 8, Vierra was the link connecting Arsenal’s forward line-up with their midfield. It was Vierra who created Arsenal’s first goal and started the counterattack. Vierra dribbled past the Zurich players and found Nketiah with a very well played ball. During his stay, Vierra kept Zurxih’s midfield busy and suffered many rough tackles in the process.
