Arsenal boss Unai Emery has revealed the reasoning behind Matteo Guendouzi’s half-time substitution during the Newcastle game on Saturday.
As reported by Football London, Emery explained that the thinking behind the call was to give the side more balance, as the young Frenchman was replaced by new signing Lucas Torreira immediately after the interval.
The Gunners went on to win the game 2-1, despite an extremely lacklustre first-half performance at St James’ Park. But the substitution did seem to work, as the North London side were two goals to the good within 15 minutes of the restart.
A sublime free-kick from Granit Xhaka was followed up by a tidy finish from Mesut Ozil to hand Arsenal all three points, as they survived a late scare following Ciaran Clark’s goal for the hosts.
The win took Arsenal up to seventh place, where they sit level on points with fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with the pair having amassed nine points each.
However, they remain six points off league leaders Chelsea and Liverpool, who have opened their 2018/19 season account with five successive victories.
Regarding Guendouzi’s substitution, Emery said:
I want to give every player confidence. I am very happy with Matteo and also very happy with Lucas. Maybe in the second half we needed a little more balance on the pitch with the positioning. Lucas gives us this balance.
