Time for Mikel Arteta to axe misfiring Gabriel Martinelli for Leandro Trossard: Arsenal's 'little magician' is not just a super-sub

GOAL
Mark Doyle

OpinionArsenalL. TrossardG. MartinelliPremier LeagueFEATURES

The Brazilian is a top talent but his form has nosedived over the past year while his Belgian team-mate continues to step up when called upon

Just two minutes after coming off the bench at Aston Villa on Saturday, Leandro Trossard scored Arsenal's crucial opening goal, beating Emiliano Martinez with a first-time finish after the hosts had failed to deal with Bukayo Saka's cut-back.

It was vintage Trossard. The super-sub with the superhero-inspired celebration had come to his side's rescue once again. Arsenal had been second best for the majority of the game at Villa Park and would have been behind had it not been for some atrocious finishing from Ollie Watkins and heroics from David Raya.

Trossard's strike, then, was a veritable game-changer, and yet the 29-year-old clearly wasn't in the mood to don his 'goggles' on his occasion. He had to be talked into doing so by team-mate William Saliba.

Why? Because Trossard was clearly still annoyed that Gabriel Martinelli had been once again selected to start ahead of him – and his frustration was fully justified.

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