Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on Arsenal duo Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard following the FA Cup clash at the Etihad last night.
Nathan Ake’s strike in the 64th minute sealed the win for the hosts, but Arsenal deserve immense credit too for the way they played, especially in the first half.
Guardiola, however, namechecked two Arsenal substitutes in his post-match press conference.
Pep Guardiola praises Arsenal stars Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard
Arsenal started the game really well last night.
They had a couple of big chances early on, but Stefan Ortega denied both Takehiro Tomiyasu and Leandro Trossard with excellent saves.
The introduction of Julian Alvarez to play alongside Erling Haaland up top combined with Thomas Partey going off for Arsenal completely changed the game in the second half. Ake struck in the 64th minute and that sealed the clash.
Speaking about the second half, Pep Guardiola was pleased with his side’s defending, especially against the substitutes Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli. He even called the latter an ‘incredible weapon’.
“Yeah (we defended) well, good, but of course, Martinelli is an incredible weapon, Guardiola said in his press conference, as relayed on HaytersTV.
“When he came on, Odegaard, he played in the pockets. They are a really good team, otherwise they could not be where they are.
“They are aggressive, they know exactly what they have to do. All the little details they control really well, but in the end, we did a good game.”
Our View:
Martinelli making way for Trossard was expected by many Arsenal fans, but Odegaard’s exclusion was a bit of a surprise.
What was even more surprising was the fact that Arteta did not bring the Norwegian on until the 74th minute.
However, Arsenal should take real confidence from the fact that they looked really good without the likes of Odegaard, Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Ben White, William Saliba and Aaron Ramsdale in the first half.
It will be interesting to see how this game will play out when Arteta names a much stronger side when the two teams meet in the Premier League in the middle of next month.
