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Arsenal capped off a noisy week with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
It has been quite the week for Arsenal. Having to deal with all the questions about Kai Havertz's injury and the lack of interest in investing in the squad had the potential to derail the season at its most important stage.
For 80 minutes against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium, the Gunners toiled away and didn't really look like scoring, especially in the first half with Ethan Nwaneri the only bright spot for the visitors.
But Mikel Arteta knew he had to make changes and with Raheem Sterling offering nothing in his first real test of the season, Arteta looked to fellow Spaniard Mikel Merino as the option upfront.
And the midfielder turned forward repaid his manager's faith with two well-taken goals in six minutes to hand the Gunners a priceless win that now closes the gap on Liverpool to just four points.
With everything that had been said and written about Arteta and the club with Havertz's injury, to get a win was the perfect tonic to put all of that in the rearview mirror while also getting closer to Liverpool.
"Yes, and it was [important] for us as well," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "Everything that happened in the last few days, it was a lot of noise to show how much we want it, because regardless of what happens, we’re going to really go for it, that we believe for the resources that we have and the quality of our players and still adapt and be competitive and still win a lot of football matches."
It was two moments of quality that gave Arsenal three points.
Nwaneri's cross to find Merino was pinpoint and the Spaniard powerfully headed home to give the Gunners the lead. Then, six minutes later, Leandro Trossard's cross found Merino at the back post, and the midfielder calmly slotted home to seal the three points.
Is Merino the answer? We aren't sure, and we can only go by what we saw vs. Leicester and at least he took advantage of his opportunities in a way that Havertz hasn't at times this season.
Of course, there will be much sterner tests on the horizon for Arsenal and Merino, but with each win, the Gunners can quieten the "noise" around the club as they focus on pushing Liverpool all the way for the Premier League title.