BILBAO, Spain — Mikel Arteta lauded Arsenal’s squad strength and said the team’s “finishers can be more important than the starters” after goals from substitutes Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard sealed a 2-0 Champions League win against Athletic Club in Bilbao.
Martinelli took just 36 seconds to score Arsenal’s opening goal on 71 minutes after replacing Eberechi Eze and his goal was created by Trossard, who had taken the place of Viktor Gyökeres six minutes earlier.
Martinelli and Trossard then linked up for the Belgium winger to score Arsenal’s second goal on 87 minutes and after seeing his late changes make a decisive impact, Arteta said his substitutes proved their ability as game-changers.
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“Sometimes the finishers will be more important than the starters this season,” Arteta told reporters. “And in the end, the finishers made the impact to win the game.
“They [substitutes] are at least equally important, and maybe more important, in that stage of games.
“It’s always very difficult emotionally to leave players out. I know how much they want to play in this competition and what it means to them.
“And every time you give the lineup, you’re disappointing a lot of players.
“They know how I feel about them, so they know that when I have to leave a player on the bench or out of the squad, it hurts me.
“But the only thing I can do is my job. I have to make decisions and I have to make decisions based on increasing the priority of winning football matches.
“And they know that that’s the only reason why I’m going to make certain decisions sometimes right, sometimes wrong.”
Arteta, who said there are no concerns about head injuries sustained by Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Magalhães following s first-half collision, was quick to praise Martinelli following his rapid impact with his goal.
And Arteta said he saw in the Brazilian winger’s “eyes” that he was set to play a significant role.
“I adore Gabby,” Arteta said. “His attitude, his commitment, his positivity, what he’s willing to do for the team.
“I don’t know about externally, but we certainly value all the qualities that he has and that he brings to the team. And I’m so happy that today he decided the game.
“When I looked on the bench and looked at him, in his eyes I could see that he was ready, Leo [Trossard] as well.
“They play with that confidence and that connection between them as well is really good. I think that’s going to help us a lot this season.”
