Arsenal legend Ian Wright lauded Nicolas Pepe despite his team losing 2-0 to Chelsea in the Premier League match played at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Romelu Lukaku outmuscled Pablo Mari to tap in a Reece James cross after 15 minutes for the opening goal. The provider then turned scorer 20 minutes later, converting a Mason mount pass to ensure the Blues went home with maximum points.
"What I saw [on Sunday], apart from [Albert Sambi] Lokonga, I thought he was very good today, [Nicolas] Pepe did a bit in places, I thought we looked really bereft of anything that we were doing," the now 57-year-old Wright said as quoted by DailyPost.
It was the second game for the Gunners in the new Premier League campaign. They started their match with a 2-0 loss away to promoted side Brentford who scored their goals through Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard.
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta has delivered updates on the fitness and availability of Kieran Tierney, Ben White, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as under-strength Arsenal start to ready themselves for a meeting with defending champions Manchester City.
Against Chelsea, Gabriel Martinelli was also substituted and the youthful tactician has commented on the player as well.
"They had to limp off," Arteta told reporters, "KT had an issue with his quad and Gabi was cramping. He and Bukayo [Saka] haven’t played 90 minutes for a long time. We’re asking them to do that right now when they’re not fully prepared.
"They tried really hard, the boys."
Club captain Aubameyang was introduced later on after recovering from Covid-19. Arteta has explained whether he will be available to start against the Citizens.
"I don’t know. Auba made a real effort to be able to be on the bench [against Chelsea]. He only trained one day," Arteta continued.
"He really struggled with illness - he was in bed for a long time but he wanted to be in the squad, he wanted to try to help the team and I thought he did help the team when he came on."
After starting their campaign with a 1-0 loss away to Tottenham Hotspur, the champions bounced back with a 5-0 win over Norwich City last weekend.
