Arsenal: 3 unwanted players who stepped up to the call

2. David Luiz

Last time Arsenal played Manchester City, there was only one name on every Arsenal’s lips, and it wasn’t for positive reasons. David Luiz, due to uncertainty regarding his future with his contract set to expire days later, did not start against City. Pablo Mari did. After 24 minutes, however, Luiz was needed.

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Mari went down with an injury, one that has seen him miss the rest of the season. Within 25 torrid minutes, Luiz made one horrible mistake to allow Raheem Sterling to score the first goal before then hauling down Riyad Mahrez in the penalty box, getting sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity and handing Kevin de Bruyne the chance to double the lead, which he duly took.

A week later, Luiz was given a year extension on his contract. The decision was ridiculed. It was seen as laughable, the perfect illustration of why Arsenal have suffered from such laughable defending. But here, Luzi stood up to his critics, met the team that he suffered his greatest nightmare against, and performed brilliantly.

At the heart of the back three, the Brazilian was phenomenal. By full-time, he won all four of his aerial duels, made 11 clearances, and had 48 touches of the ball. All were team-highs. He met every cross, blocked every shot, timed his tackles sumptuously, and marshalled Arsenal’s defence brilliantly. It was a lesson in deep-lying defending, and it came from the man everyone laughed off just weeks before.