Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah has answered the calls of Gunners icon Ian Wright, who claimed earlier this month that he has to become more of a goal threat. The England youth international scored an all-important brace against London rivals Chelsea on Wednesday night to claim all three points.
The 22-year-old scored the opener in the first-half, with Emile Smith Rowe also finding the net. The Blues did peg the Gunners back twice though, with Timo Werner and Cesar Azpilicueta also firing home.
Nketiah scored again in the second half, before Bukayo Saka ’s late penalty sealed all three points. Mikel Arteta was full of praise for Nketiah after the game, saying: “If there is one player that I have been unfair with I think it’s him [Nketiah].
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“He has given me every right to do something different, and if Eddie doesn’t play more, it’s my fault and because as a manager I missed something or I haven’t had the courage to play him more. Today he showed me more how wrong I was.”
The brace was his first two Premier League goals of the season, though he has often been used from the bench. His competition of choice has been the Carabao Cup this season, where he has scored five goals from five appearances.
The goals answered the call of Arsenal legend Wright, who said earlier this month that he wanted to see more of a threat from the striker. Speaking to the Arsecast, he said: “He [Nketiah] needs that talk to say there is an opening as a No.9 at Arsenal for someone who can do this job, and he’s young enough to do that job and get in the box. If someone has had that chat with him [it does not show] because when he comes on – he came on against Palace and looked okay – but he is not enough of a goal threat.
"And I’m thinking to myself, when I was coming through, I remember at Crystal Palace I had Trevor Aylott, Andy Gray, and all I was thinking was: 'If I could just have one f***ing chance to have a run in this team'.
"And it does seem to me, when you look at Eddie as a striker who we thought of as the box striker that we need, I was thinking we had a replacement for Aubameyang and Lacazette – but what has happened to Eddie in [that] respect? Your job as a No.9 is to take over from these guys! So that’s one of the most frustrating things for me, to see that there’s a striker there, I don’t know if he’s going to leave or not, it doesn’t seem like there’s any contract talks going on, maybe he’s made his mind up."
His double against the Blues has proven that he has that goal threat in him, having sniffed out both chances well to seal the win. Whether he can use that as a launchpad for the rest of the season remains to be seen.
However, following that performance, Nketiah now has a reasonable chance of staking a claim in the side for at least the rest of the season. Whether he stays beyond that, with his contract up in the summer, is still up in the air.
