Martinelli shows Arsenal there is life after Aubameyang and Lacazette

When Arsenal agreed to send Eddie Nketiah out on loan to Leeds United at the start of the season, fans and pundits alike questioned whether the Gunners hierarchy had made the right decision. 

It was not so much the young striker’s destination that raised question marks, but Nketiah’s temporary departure left Unai Emery with just two out-and-out strikers at his disposal in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. 

The 20-year-old Nketiah made just nine appearances in all competitions in 2018-19, scoring once, but his presence gave Emery the option to rest his two star strikers whenever he felt doing so was opportune. 

That got taken away from the Spaniard with Nketiah’s move to Leeds and misfortune inevitably struck Arsenal not long after when Lacazette was ruled out of action for several weeks. Emery was thus forced to field Aubameyang up top in the 4-0 Europa League win over Eintracht Frankfurt back in September. 

Yet fast-forward two weeks and the Arsenal boss has now seemingly found another alternative for the No.9 position after all in Gabriel Martinelli. 

The Brazilian youngster was brought in from Ituano in a £6 million ($8m) deal during the summer transfer window, and the club’s initial plan was to give him time to find his feet in England. Martinelli impressed during pre-season, though, and has continued to make a positive impact since the start of the campaign. 

The 18-year-old made his official first-team debut in Arsenal’s 1-0 Premier League win over Newcastle and then really gave the fans a first glance of his talent in the 5-0 Carabao Cup victory over Nottingham Forest, scoring twice to lead his team into the fourth round. 

That performance was enough for Emery to also put his trust in the gifted youngster for the Europa League clash with Standard Liege on Thursday, and Martinelli did not disappoint. 

The forward opened the scoring after just 12 minutes with a sublime header from inside the area after a cross from Kieran Tierney, beating his marker to the ball at the near post before beating goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. 

Not content with the one goal, Martinelli doubled his tally just minutes later, this time curling a shot in the far corner after a low cross from Reiss Nelson and some fancy footwork to shake off his direct opponent. 

Liege never recovered from that early blow and Arsenal made it three midway through the first half when Joe Willock added his name to the score sheet. 

Martinelli was unfortunate not to get his hat-trick after the break as he went close on more than one occasion, but there was another highlight to come as he set up Dani Ceballos' first Arsenal goal with an intelligent run and cross to eventually make it 4-0 to the hosts.

The versatile attacker will likely be condemned to the bench once more when Bournemouth visit north London on Sunday, but there is no shame in playing second fiddle to a player like Aubameyang at this stage.

If he keeps up his development and continues to take his chances, there is no doubt he will get plenty of playing time as the season goes on. And Nketiah’s absence doesn't seem to be so much of a problem after all.