It was yet another frustrating night for Arsenal as Inter Milan claimed all three points at the San Siro.
The Gunners dominated possession throughout the Champions League clash but the hosts scored with their only shot on target, a Hakan Calhanoglu spot kick on the stroke of half time. Gabriel Martinelli, William Saliba, Gabriel and Kai Havertz all had decent chances to equalise in Italy but ultimately Arsenal could not find a way through a stubborn Inter defence.
“The worst thing of the night for sure is the result because the dominance, the attitude and the performance we showed against one of the best teams in Europe in this stadium I haven’t seen it in all the games that I watched,” Mikel Arteta said after the match. “The reality though is the result and we had many situations in front of goal that we could have resolved better enough to score at least two goals.”
Despite the negatives, there were a couple of positives. Martin Odegaard made his return from injury after missing the whole of September and October, while Ethan Nwaneri looked bright after being brought on in the 82nd minute.
Coming on for Leandro Trossard and operating in the Arsenal midfield, Nwaneri produced some decent touches and progressed the ball nicely on a couple of occasions. The 17-year-old doesn’t play like a teenager and one moment in particular caught the eye.
With the clock ticking down and Arsenal minutes away from their first Champions League defeat of the season, Nwaneri looked to take the game by the scruff of the neck and do something his teammates had struggled to do for much of the game. The youngster received the ball on the back foot 25 yards out from goal and in one smart turn lost his marker and found himself with a chance to shoot. The teenager accepted the invitation but his left foot, this time, could not produce any more magic as the ball sailed over the bar
While he did not score or even hit the target, it was a moment of class and capped off a brilliant cameo by the England youth international. Despite his obvious quality, Nwaneri has only featured eight times for the Gunners this season, with his only two starts coming in the Carabao Cup. Many have called on Arteta to give Nwaneri more game time but, so far, the Spaniard has been reluctant,
“The biggest thing is to push him and then when he is pushing you grab him from behind to make sure he is stable and protected. This talent you have to push him,” Arteta said on Nwaneri before the weekend loss to Newcastle. “Protection is necessary, keeping an eye on him, but he needs to see that he can go and fly and not cut his wings.
“I can talk about how good he is right now and the position he is at, at one of the biggest clubs in Europe, sums up really well the level he has. What happens in the future is going to depend on him and how much he wants it. At the moment he wants it a lot and he is surrounded by the right people. The crystal ball to see what he is going to be in two or three years, no. My prediction is going to be very positive.”
“Ethan Nwaneri came on today and showed flashes,” Rio Ferdinand told TNT Sports after the game. “You go, ‘you know what, are they going to give him a little bit more time, a little bit more responsibility?’. Because he seems to have that little bit of imagination to unlock things when it’s tight.”
It remains to be seen if Nwaneri will start against the Blues on Sunday, or even come off the bench. But judging by his cameo against Inter Milan, which included that one moment of brilliance, it may not be the worst idea.
