Oleksandr Zinchenko was a crucial figure in Arsenal’s 4-2 win at Aston Villa, scoring the second equaliser and proving a critical part of the build-up of the two stoppage-time winners. The Ukrainian has been a stalwart in Mikel Arteta’s squad when available and it is easy to see why with second-half displays like his.
That said, Arsenal and Zinchenko struggled in the first half in particular. It appeared as though the Gunners still had a significant hangover from the gutting defeat to Manchester City in midweek which has been quickly forgotten with yesterday’s win and Nottingham Forest holding the Citizens to a 1-1 draw.
Zinchenko recognised the disappointment of the first half and wasn’t quick to forget it in the second. Speaking to football.london after the game, Zinchenko said: “To be honest, the performance in the first half wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t happy at all.”
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Reflecting further on the turnaround though Zinchenko did not mince his words. The Ukrainian put it bluntly when describing the character of his side to turn the score around late on at Villa Park.
He added: “In the second half we showed our character and this team has balls and I’m happy to help my team with the goal, but my priority was always three points.”
Martinelli came on in the second half, provided the pass for Jorginho’s strike to secure the winner and then scored the fourth, breaking through on an open goal with Emi Martinez up for a corner. Zinchenko and Martinelli had played the majority of the season as a pair but Mikel Arteta opted for Leandro Trossard in this game and the left-back pointed out the benefit of having his wide teammate coming off the bench.
“Martinelli is an unbelievable player, we all know his quality, he’s so fast and dangerous and always goes forward. From when he came on, he brought fresh legs, but also Leo did an amazing job today and he’s so important for us as well.”
Kieran Tierney remains on the fringes of the side with Zinchenko locking down the left-back role, but with second-half displays like that, there’s little chance of the Scot breaking into the Premier League squad. When the Europa League returns for Arsenal next month, that’s where we’ll find what Tierney still has to offer this side and he will have to be ready.
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