Gabriel Martinelli might have been the villain of the piece as Arsenal dropped out of Europe, but the Brazil international has still justified Mikel Arteta's approach with him.
One of the final signings of the Unai Emery era, Martinelli struggled for minutes in Arteta's first full season in charge. It was the manager who took responsibility, though, suggesting the youngster was doing everything right but was still being made to wait.
Two years on from those comments from the Arsenal boss, Martinelli is the top scorer for a team sitting at the summit of the Premier League. The forward will be disappointed after watching Sporting Lisbon goalkeeper Antonio Adan keep out his penalty at the Emirates Stadium, but he has already shown an ability to battle back from difficult situations.
"If anything it's my fault," Arteta admitted in March 2021 when asked about Martinelli's lack of minutes. "He has done everything perfect, he trains incredibly well every day, his attitude cannot be any better.
"He is disappointed he is not playing more, obviously, and I have spoken to him, but he needs to be a little bit patient. He had some minutes, he had some games as well and it's true the competition for the front positions is very tough but he needs to be patient and he will get his chance."
At the time, Arsenal were coming off a North London derby victory in which Emile Smith Rowe started on the left, while the next game - a 3-3 draw with West Ham - saw Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang occupy the role before Martinelli got a late run-out from the bench. These days, Aubameyang is long gone and it is Smith Rowe being told to wait his turn after injury issues for the England man helped Martinelli lock down a starting spot.
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There were some parallels in how Arteta spoke of Smith Rowe ahead of Thursday's game against Sporting. The academy graduate was an unused substitute for the game against the Portuguese side, and hasn't started a game for the Gunners this season.
"He knows how much we love him and how much we missed him and how much we need his qualities," Arteta said. "Now he needs to prove it, how much he wants to win and how much he’s going to contribute to this team to be better and to win, he’s going to have to show that to get into the team."
Martinelli and Arsenal will need to respond immediately after their European setback. Granit Xhaka had put them on the verge of a place in the quarter-finals, only for Pedro Goncalves to equalise from distance before the visitors won on penalties.
"[It's a] huge blow, obviously," Arteta told BT Sport after the elimination. "There were moments especially in the first 75 minutes where we weren't at our level. We gave every single ball away.
"We didn't have the capacity to dominate the game and take the game where we wanted. It's true in the last 15 minutes, we had the chances and in extra-time, we had the chances to win it. When it goes down to the penalties, it's a lot of uncertainty and we lost it."
Next up in the league is a clash with Crystal Palace, who have sacked manager Patrick Vieira in the lead-up to the game. Arsenal are unbeaten in London in the league, but will be desperate for three points to ramp up the pressure on title challengers Manchester City.
Martinelli could well be key to their success after scoring five goals in his last five league games. He has a career-best 12 this term, with only four players scoring more in the Premier League, and has shown the value of patience after Arteta's comments two years ago.
