Arsenal get huge injury boost amid 1-1 draw with Man Utd

Arsenal drew 1-1 with Manchester United in a game that saw the long-awaited return of Gabriel Martinelli.

Whisper is quietly, but Arsenal might finally be getting some luck on the injury front in a couple of weeks.

After months of blow after blow, the Gunners, who saw their title hopes be dashed weeks ago as the injury list to the attacking players continued to grow, now, Mikel Arteta might be getting some relief.

The 1-1 draw at Old Trafford was frustrating given that Arsenal dominated large parts of the game only to be hit with a Bruno Fernandes sucker punch right on halftime, with Declan Rice scoring the equalizer in the second half.

David Raya managed to keep United out in injury time with some superb saves to preserve a precious point as Arsenal looks to lock away its top four spot.

But while the game itself wasn't ideal given the end result, it did have one huge positive to come out of it - the return of Gabriel Martinelli.

Martinelli makes long-awaited return against United

Coming on in the 58th minute, Martinelli got roughly 30-odd minutes of game time as he works his way back to full fitness to be a weapon that Arsenal desperately needs over the coming weeks.

But while that was superb, what Mikel Arteta stated post-game will have Arsenal fans a little giddy.

"With Gabi it was a bit different the kind of injury that he had and I think we talked about it last week that he was much closer than Bukayo," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "After the international break, let’s see where he is – his progress is really good, he’s really willing, as you can imagine, so we are positive that in a few weeks, he’ll hopefully be back."

Now, that's what we're talking about. Finally, some respite.

While it isn't a given, even having Martinelli back will allow Arteta to shuffle the deck and offer something else going forward.

Let's not forget, Martinelli made his name at Arsenal early on playing up front, so he offers another option to lead the line, and the trickle-down effects of that will mean Mikel Merino could return to the midfield and so on.

Yes, the title is gone, but Arsenal needs to finish the season strongly and secure Champions League football for next season, and with the return of Martinelli, and Saka soon, that gets a little easier.

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