Arsene Wenger has praised Mohamed Elneny, Nacho Monreal and Alexandre Lacazette for their performances for Arsenal against West Bromwich Albion last night.
The Gunners snatched a 2-0 win in the Monday Night Football encounter at the Emirates Stadium yesterday, but the scoreline doesn’t reflect the overall play.
West Brom really brought the game to us in the opening half of the match, and we should consider ourselves lucky to have gotten to the half-time interval 1-0 up, and Lacazette was the man to put us in front.
Wenger refused to save all the praise for the striker however, and had to give a special mention to both Monreal and Elneny.
“[Monreal and Elneny] were outstanding, both of them,” Wenger said.
“I am pleased for both of them of course, but especially for Elneny because he has not always played, but what he did tonight was very positive.
“The two of them are top players who have a fantastic mentality.”
Of course the Frenchman’s brace did get him his own special mention, and Wenger claims Lacazette is adapting well to the physical aspect that the Premier League poses.
“He’s not only a goalscorer, his link up play is good,” Wenger added. “He fights as well, he’s not fazed by the physical challenges that West Brom gave us and overall he looks to adapt quickly and very well.
“I took him off because he was tired. He had an opportunity to score a hat-trick but I gave him the penalty as well … what you want is to win the game and not to take any gambles because if they come back to 2-1 it can be nervy.”
Should Wenger have kept the striker on the pitch to try and land his hat-trick? Should Elneny be given more regular action? Who was your Man of the Match?
Pat J