Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that Ethan Nwaneri picked up a muscle injury after the teenager scored in the Gunners’ 1-1 draw with Brighton on Saturday
Arsenal have suffered a fresh injury blow after goalscorer Ethan Nwaneri was forced off at half-time in their 1-1 draw against Brighton.
Nwaneri gave Arsenal an early lead at the Amex, but Brighton equalised through Joao Pedro who scored a penalty after referee Anthony Taylor controversially pointed to the spot after a clash between Pedro and William Saliba.
And while Arteta was not happy with the penalty decision, he was also left bemoaning Nwaneri’s injury. When asked for an update on the 17-year-old Arteta told BBC Match of the Day: “Really bad news because I think we’ve lost him.
“We had to take him off at half-time with some muscular issues.” Arsenal already went into the match missing the likes of Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Raheem Sterling and Takehiro Tomiyasu through injury, while captain Martin Odegaard only made the bench due to illness.
Reflecting on the draw with Brighton, Arteta added: “Obviously we wanted to win the game. This is a tough place to come and they are a very good side. We started well, scored a beautiful goal and we were in control.
“In the second half we didn’t really grab the game or dominate enough to have certain moments and be more of a threat in their half. But defensively we did not concede much apart from the transition moment with [Yankuba] Minteh.
“When you are playing every three days or less than that you cannot with the amount of injuries and situations maintain the level of performance and competitiveness. Today we lacked it in the second half.
“Today was not about fatigue. It was about the simple things that we have to do in ball possession to give chances and dominate the game in the right areas.”
Arteta also branded the penalty call “bizarre”, adding: “We are really disappointed with the decision that leads to the goal because I have never seen something like this in my life. He touches the ball as well.”
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