Young Guns Shine As Arsenal Move Into FA Cup Fifth Round Arsenal’S Third Win in Eight Matches Under Arteta
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27 Sports Wednesday, January 29, 2020 Young guns shine as Arsenal move into FA Cup fifth round Arsenal’s third win in eight matches under Arteta BOURNEMOUTH: Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal’s “hungry” Brazilian isn’t just a poacher and he showed his creative youngsters after Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah fired vision as Arsenal made a perfect start in the fifth minute. their side into the FA Cup fifth round with a 2-1 win As a 22-pass Arsenal move approached an eye-catch- against Bournemouth on Monday. Arteta turned to youth ing crescendo, Willock’s surge opened up the at Dean Court and Saka, Nketiah and Joe Willock repaid Bournemouth defence. Willock picked out Martinelli, who the Arsenal manager’s faith with influential displays that deftly moved the ball onto Saka when a more selfish player secured a trip to third-tier Portsmouth. would have shot and he smashed a thunderous drive into Saka gave Arsenal an early lead as the 18-year-old full- the roof of the net from an acute angle. back bagged his third goal of the season with a superb Arteta had made five changes from the Chelsea match, strike. Nketiah got the second before the interval to ensure with Nketiah making his first Arsenal start since January Arteta took another step towards emulating his FA Cups last year against Blackpool in the FA Cup. triumph as an Arsenal player in 2014 and 2015. Sam Nketiah was recently recalled from a loan spell at sec- Surridge got one back for Bournemouth in the closing ond-tier Leeds over concerns he wasn’t playing enough, minutes, but it was too late to salvage a replay. “I’m very but the 20-year-old showed his potential in the 26th pleased. Always tough to come here and win, we’ve done it minute as he doubled Arsenal’s lead. with a young team as well,” Arteta said. Unable to contain Willock and Saka, Bournemouth were “I have a lot of faith in them. I think they are developing carved open as the midfielder’s pass found the defender in really well. They are willing and hungry and will only get acres of space on the left. better.” Languishing in 10th place in the Premier League Saka’s cross into the six-yard box was perfect for after failing to win any of their last three games, this was a Nketiah and he slotted in his first Arsenal goal since May. welcome boost for Arteta as Arsenal built on their hard- Completely outclassed for the first 30 minutes, fought draw at Chelsea last week. Bournemouth finally had a sight of goal when Harry It was Arsenal’s third win in eight matches under Arteta Wilson’s volley was saved by Emiliano Martinez. in all competitions, with just one defeat in that run. It was Arteta’s men didn’t have it all their own way in the sec- not all plain sailing by the seaside for Arteta, who added: ond half and Martinez took out his own player when he “We scored two fantastic goals, but after that we became clattered into Shkodran Mustafi in a bid to catch a cross. a little bit sloppy and I didn’t like that very much.” Mustafi had to be stretchered off as a result of the clash Arteta’s first match in charge of Arsenal was a 1-1 and Arteta said: “We’ll have to assess tomorrow but when Premier League draw at Bournemouth in December, but Mustafi has to come off normally it is not a good sign.” his team looked far more accomplished this time, even The hapless Martinez nearly gifted Bournemouth a goal without several key players. moments later when he missed with his attempt to punch With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang still suspended, 18- clear, but Jack Simpson headed just wide of the empty net. BOURNEMOUTH: Arsenal’s French-born Ivorian midfielder Nicolas Pepe (C) vies with Bournemouth’s English defender year-old striker Gabriel Martinelli started for Arsenal. Surridge punished sloppy defending to tap in from Adam Smith (L) and Bournemouth’s English midfielder Lewis Cook (R) during the English FA Cup fourth round foot- Martinelli had scored in Arsenal’s past two Premier Simon Francis’ cross deep into stoppage time, but ball match between Bournemouth and Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, southern England. — AFP League games to reach 10 goals for the season. But the Arsenal’s rookies held on. — AFP same month. The Chilean is now on loan at Inter Milan, “Normally the players we could think would be Premier League but United are still paying a large part of his wages on interesting to add something for our squad — clubs a contract with two-and-a-half years left to run. are not going to sell them in January,” he said. Currently fifth in the table, United are desperately in Liverpool’s romp towards a first league title in 30 years clubs hold fire in need of reinforcements as they battle to avoid missing has been built on smart recruitment and they moved Chelsea handed out on the riches of Champions League football for a quickly to activate a £7 million release clause in January arms race second consecutive year. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Japanese international Takumi Minamino’s contract potential Liverpool already shallow squad has been hugely impacted by with Red Bull Salzburg in December. injuries to Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Scott Other clubs have only been forced into the market LONDON: Premier League clubs have until Friday to McTominay. The club’s executive vice-chairman Ed by injuries. Tottenham’s search for a striker to fill in for clash in FA Cup boost their squads but there has so far been little Woodward has been the target of fans’ frustrations for the absent Harry Kane has seen the Champions desire for a spending spree from the richest league in his handling of transfers over recent years. League finalists reportedly agree a fee of around £27 the world. The slump in January spending over the past United have been in prolonged negotiations with million fee with PSV Eindhoven for Steven Bergwijn. LONDON: Premier League leaders couple of years shows that the mid-season transfer Sporting Lisbon over Portuguese international mid- However, for all of the wealth enjoyed by Premier Liverpool will face Chelsea in the FA Cup window is increasingly seen as an undesirable time to fielder Bruno Fernandes, but latest reports suggest the League clubs, for some the well has run dry after a fifth round if Jurgen Klopp’s understudies do business. Red Devils are no nearer to completing any deals series of bad investments. Everton and West Ham were win their replay against Shrewsbury. Third- Last year, the total outlay for Premier League clubs before Friday’s deadline. among eight English clubs to make the top 20 of tier Shrewsbury fought back to draw 2-2 in January was £180 million ($234 million) — nearly a “It is difficult this window — it’s always been. I Deloitte’s “Football Money League” when it comes to with Liverpool on Sunday, earning a replay third of which was what Chelsea spent on Christian can’t remember how many good deals that we’ve revenue. at Anfield that falls during the Premier Pulisic, who was loaned back to Borussia Dortmund for brought in in January,” said Solskjaer yesterday. “It’s Yet Everton posted eye-watering losses of £112 mil- League winter break. the rest of the season. very hard because the clubs don’t want to lose their lion this month, with cost-cutting needed to avoid Reds boss Klopp insists he will not use his That was down from a record £430 million splurge best players.” breaching the Premier League’s financial fair play rules senior stars for that match because he in the 2018 mid-season window, when there were a Liverpool’s 16-point lead over Manchester City at next year. West Ham’s perilous position just outside the doesn’t want to deny them a much-needed series of big-name moves including Virgil van Dijk, the top of the table has lessened the need for either relegation zone on goal difference is normally one that rest. To earn a trip to Stamford Bridge, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Aymeric Laporte. side to bolster their squads for a title fight. City boss induces panic buying. But after a net spend of £214 Liverpool may play the youngsters who were However, the success of those signings has tended Pep Guardiola has stated for the past few months that million on players over the past four years, on Tuesday beaten by Aston Villa in the League Cup to be the exception rather than the rule in a seller’s his club would not do business in January despite a they announced significant losses for the year to May quarter-finals while the Reds were at the market in January. Manchester United are still counting chance to shore up his defence before the Champions 31, 2019 and warned of “serious financial conse- Club World Cup. the cost of their lavish outlay on Alexis Sanchez in the League knockout stages. quences” should they be relegated. — AFP FA Cup holders Manchester City have been given a trip to second-tier Sheffield today. Manchester United will visit the win- ners of the replay between Northampton and Solskjaer seeks spirit of PSG as Man Utd prepare to face Man City Derby, who feature former United star Wayne Rooney in their squad.