Arsenal: 4 things you might have missed from the weekend

What a weekend for Arsenal. Mikel Arteta’s 100th match in charge of the club saw him register his 54th win as his side came through a tough clash with Watford on Sunday afternoon.

It was a game that Arsenal were fairly dominant in without finding the back of the net. Bukayo Saka thought he’d got the characteristically fast starts from the Gunners the result they wanted only to be denied by VAR, and after that Ben Foster took centre stage.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw his weak penalty well saved by the Hornets keeper who also denied Gabriel from close range with another inspired stop on what ended up being a frustrating first half.

Chances were relatively easy to create but the finishing touch was lacking, one that eventually came via the boot of Emile Smith Rowe after a controversial build-up to the goal.

Arsenal: 4 things you might have missed from the weekend as Mikel Arteta celebrates 100th match in charge with 1-0 win over Watford

The scoreline wouldn’t change after that and Arsenal are into double figures for unbeaten matches in all competitions. Add to that some very favourable results from around the Premier League and the weekend was near enough perfect.

It then got even better on Sunday evening as it was confirmed Smith Rowe would link up with the England national squad for the first time after some withdrawals from the senior team saw him moved up from the Under-21 side.

Gabriel also got in on the act with his first senior call up to the Brazil squad, a richly deserved accolade for the defender who is now unbeaten as an Arsenal player for well over 200 days.

Could the weekend get any better? Well, casting one’s gaze away from the happenings at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, it most certainly could. Here is what else happened in the Arsenal world to make it smiles all round.

1. Reiss Nelson Grabs First Goal Involvement for Feyenoord

With the buzz in and around Arsenal at the moment so joyous, it’s easy to forget the ongoings of first team players out on loan with their respective clubs over the weekend.

Hector Bellerin scored an own goal in the Seville derby, William Saliba recorded another clean sheet, Matteo Guendouzi continues to impress, and Lucas Torreira narrowly lost with Fiorentina against Juventus.

However, it was what went on over in the Netherlands that caught the eye most of all, as Reiss Nelson recorded his first goal involvement with Feyenoord since joining the club in the summer.

The 21-year-old is yet to start a match for the Dutch side and has instead been limited to four Eredivisie outings so far, but his latest one against AZ Alkmaar had the biggest impact of all.

Coming on with 14 minutes to go in a fascinating, but goalless, encounter where both sides had opportunities to win it, Nelson superbly controlled a pass on the halfway line with 91 minutes on the clock as the home side sought to counter-attack. Finding the run of Cyriel Dessers he fed the striker in, who found the bottom corner to send the stadium into pandemonium via the aid of a very welcome deflection.

Having struggled with fitness and injury so far, while it wasn’t an assist to tell the grandkids about, it will have done Nelson the world of good as he aims to become a firs team regular.

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