Arsenal manager, Unai Emery, has explained why he took off midfielders Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan at half time, during their 4-2 win over Tottenham on Sunday.
Emery’s two halftime substitutions helped turn the game around as he brought on striker Alexandre Lacazette and midfielder Aaron Ramsey for Iwobi and Mkhitaryan.
Ramsey set up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Arsenal’s equaliser and assisted Lacazette to make it 3-2, before Lucas Torreira finished off the win.
It was a bold move from Emery, but one he said he had considered even before the match started.
“Before I started the match I prepared in my mind different situations in the game. And this was one.
“Why? Because Lacazette has very big experience scoring against every opposition team. And because Aaron has experience against Tottenham, he has experience in derby matches, he has experience to help us come back in the 90 minutes against every team,” Emery said according to ESPN.
The Spaniard however remained tight-lipped about Mesut Ozil’s absence.
Ozil was left out of the squad and the club said he had back spasms, having been left on the bench against Bournemouth last weekend.
But Emery said he didn’t know when Ozil started struggling with the problem this week, or whether he was even at the Emirates to watch the game.
“He has a back ache,” he said.
When asked whether Ozil had attended the game, he added: “I don’t know. It’s a good day to speak about the players who played.”
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