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Without a recognized striker, Arsenal managed a gritty 1-0 win over Chelsea to keep moving in a positive direction.
Arsenal's lack of forward options has seen its Premier League title challenge fall by the wayside, but Mikel Arteta's side isn't giving up the season without a fight.
With no Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus or Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli (came back in the last few games) for the best part of nearly two months, Arsenal's attacking options have been rather thin, but the Gunners have been managing to just about keep their heads above water.
Merino to the rescue vs. Chelsea
The 1-0 win over Chelsea won't live long in the memory with Mikel Merino, who has been tasked with leading the line due to injuries, again getting on the scoresheet, flicking in Martin Odegaard's 20-minute corner to give Arsenal a well-deserved lead.
Had Arsenal taken its next few chances, the game would have been put to bed, but the Gunners remained stout in defense to come away with a crucial 1-0 win. There was a thought that without a striker, that if things went south badly enough, that the Gunners could miss out on a top 4 spot.
But thanks to Merino's second goal in three games, Arsenal claimed a vital three points.
"And we know that, that was the emergency situation that we are in at the moment but the way he's approaching it is incredible, he wants to understand everything, he wants to learn from it, he's very critical of himself all the time and at the end the reality is that he's winning football matches for us, which is incredible," Arteta said of Merino via arsenal.com. "He's never played in that position before in his life."
Merino is doing a serviceable job, but let's not kid ourselves here - he shouldn't have to be deployed as a striker.
Yes, the club's failure to address a situation which last summer was also seen as a problem is head-scratching, but Merino is doing what he can to give Arsenal some life in the attacking third.
It doesn't always work, with Arsenal squandering numerous chances over the past month, but Merino is doing all he can to keep the Gunners' heads above water in the race for a top-four spot, and the win over Chelsea was a huge step toward accomplishing that.
Now nine points clear of Chelsea in fourth, this "emergency" situation is being handled rather well by Merino.