Nuno Tavares has spoken out after being substituted at half time during Arsenal's 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Monday night. The Portuguese full back was thrown in to the starting lineup for the first time in nearly four months and endured a torrid time at Selhurst Park.
The 22-year-old was weak when challenging for the ball from a free-kick which allowed Joachim Andersen to set up Jean-Philippe Mateta 's opener on the night and was then caught flat-footed as he failed to anticipate Gabriel 's mistake in the build-up to Jordan Ayew 's second and was hooked in favour of Gabriel Martinelli at the break.
"Today it was just a tactical reason," said Mikel Arteta of the decision in his post-match press conference on Monday. "How I wanted to do it with what Palace were doing there and how we could attack and control the game much better in that position, put another attacking midfielder with Emile in that position. I’m sorry that it was Nuno again but we had to do it."
READ MORE: Arsenal confirm Thomas Partey injury blow as Ghanaian set for spell on the sidelines
This is not the first time Tavares has been taken off early after he was subbed just 35 minutes into his last start for the Gunners during their 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round. Now he has taken to social media to react to his performance against Patrick Vieira 's side.
"Monday was an extremely frustrating night for me personally, for the team and the fans," he said on Twitter. "It’s important to pick ourselves up, learn from the mistakes and react positively for Saturday’s game. Still a lot to fight for. COYG."
The Portuguese defender will need to bounced back from the disappointment of Monday night quickly as he is set to play a crucial role for Arsenal in the remainder of the season. It was confirmed on Tuesday that Kieran Tierney is set to miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury that requires surgery, meaning that Tavares is likely to be heavily involved in the business end of the campaign as the Gunners seek to secure Champions League qualification for the first time in half a decade.
Arteta does have other options available to him at left back, with Cedric, Bukayo Saka and Granit Xhaka all having played there in the past and youngster Lino Sousa impressing for the under-23s. However, Tavares remains his most orthodox fit and will surely be needed at some point between now and the end of the season.
This is not the only injury dilemma that Arteta will have to face going forward. Arsenal confirmed on Thursday that Thomas Partey is set for a spell on the sidelines after sustaining muscular damage to his thigh during the defeat to Crystal Palace, while Takehiro Tomiyasu is not expected back in full training with the Gunners until April 16.
