Reiss Nelson's last substitute appearance for Arsenal saw him score twice in the 5-0 victory against Nottingham Forest but it was highly unlikely anyone was expecting a greater impact when he came on with 20 minutes to play against Bournemouth. But, his contributions more than surpassed his previous cameo from the bench.
After replacing Bukayo Saka in the clash with Forest at the end of October, the 23-year-old grabbed a brace and looked set to finally revive his Arsenal career. However, he struggled to have a similar impact and suffered an injury in the mid-season friendly against Juventus.
That injury saw him miss nearly three months, with his introduction against Bournemouth marking his return to action and to do so it in style, he provided the assist for Ben White to draw Arsenal level.
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Nelson then delivered the winning goal in the seventh minute of added time as he drove home a loose ball from the edge of the box to send Emirates Stadium into pandemonium. Mikel Arteta was full of praise for Nelson after the game, explaining why he had chosen to leave him out of the last two matchday squads despite him being fit.
"I always saw the potential, the talent and the desire for him to do it, but he’s at a different level right now," Arteta said. "I think emotionally, the experiences that he had helped him.
"Football-wise, it was my decision in the last two games not to play him because we had other options. But he was knocking on the door, he’s been training really good and it’s a good lesson for me and for the coaches that we need him and that he can be really important for the team."
With Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard all on the score sheet in the mid-week victory against Everton, not one of those being involved in any of the three goals was a surprise. Instead Thomas Partey, White and Nelson were the goalscorers.
The latter of those names was certainly the likeliest of the three to score, but one Manchester United fan on twitter did not think it was the best decision to bring him on. @UtdEIIis tweeted, "Arsenal need a goal and they bring on Reiss Nelson. *crying laughter emoji* *crying laughter emoji*".
The United supporter was left to rue his comments following Nelson's involvement, however, apologising to the winger after he inspired a miraculous Arsenal comeback.
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