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Arsenal finally handed a start to Eddie Nketiah, but he didn’t score. Which is perfectly fine. In fact, it’s better than fine. We saw a different side of him.
Ever since he arrived at Arsenal, Eddie Nketiah has scored goals. Wherever he’s been put – the U18s, the U23s, even his brief heroics in the Premier League – he scored goals. He is just one of those guys that has a nose for the back of the net.
That was the biggest draw for the guy. The biggest reason why the debate was brought up whether he was ready to take on more responsibility in the first team – to get more chances. Particularly in the wake of Danny Welbeck’s expiring contract. The question became if Nketiah could replace Welbeck (let’s not talk about the injury).
And again, his primary strength was that nose for goal. We saw it against Norwich City. Dude scored twice in the dying minutes to secure the win for Arsenal. He became a hero then and there.
Against FC Vorskla, Nketiah didn’t score. But he did so many other things that we had not seen him do. He dribbled so well. The best on the club. He completed five dribbles, which is by far the best single-match tally thus far into the season.
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He was only dispossessed once.
Nketiah lead the line with maturity and composure. He had a very Lacazette performance in that sense, rather than an Aubameyang one. He was composed with the ball and he was sturdy with possession.
Seeing all these things ups his stock more than a goal would have. We know he can score goals. He’s a proven commodity in the goal-scoring department. He doesn’t need to prove that he can do that anymore.
He needs to prove that he can do more than that, and he started laying the groundwork for that against Vorskla. Again, to reference and earlier point, Nketiah had proven himself an Aubameyang type – quick and deadly, but peripheral.
We saw a Lacazette type in this one. We saw a forward with more facilities than just punting the ball into the back of the net.
Hopefully that means we will see him more. I would love to see him out there more. To see him put both sides of his development together and merge the Aubameyang parts of him with the Lacazette ones. Now that would be truly special.