‘The game of his life’: BBC pundit absolutely amazed by 2020 Arsenal signing’s weekend display
Garth Crooks has told BBC Sport that Thomas Partey had the game of his life on Saturday as Arsenal beat Bournemouth to keep their Premier League title hopes very much alive.
The Gunners looked set to let Manchester City close the gap to just two points at the weekend. Pep Guardiola’s men had already beaten Newcastle by the time the Gunners went 1-0 down inside 10 seconds to the Cherries.
And it got worse for Mikel Arteta’s men. The visitors would double the lead during the second-half. But we should have all known that Arsenal were far from done.
Crooks says Partey had the game of his life
It was Partey who sparked the comeback. And what followed was goals from Ben White and Reiss Nelson. The latter certainly sent the stadium into a frenzy as everyone realised just how important that victory could be.
It was a remarkable turnaround from Arsenal, regardless of where the opposition sit in the table. And Crooks was absolutely blown away by the performance of Partey in the middle of the park.
“At the moment everything Arsenal seem to touch turns to gold. Granit Xhaka misses his first Premier League game of the season, just as Partey returns to the side from injury and has the game of his life,” he told BBC Sport.
“The Ghana international got Arsenal back into the game after an awful start. It was also his perseverance and drive on the edge of the Bournemouth box that provided the opening for Ben White to score the equaliser – the England defender’s first goal for the club.”
Gunners grateful for midfielder’s better luck with injuries
Arsenal have definitely benefitted from having Partey available for so much of the campaign so far. Injuries have previously restricted his game-time in North London.
Arsenal have only lost three league games in this campaign. And two of those have come when Partey has been unavailable.
Funnily enough, the one defeat he was involved in came at Everton. And on that occasion, he came off just before the winning goal was scored – not that his presence would have necessarily made a huge difference at that stage.
But Arsenal are no longer so reliant on Partey. The January move for Jorginho has been inspired – despite how some Gunners fans reacted to the links.
And, as Reiss Nelson showed, the Gunners have the kind of depth all over the park which suggests that they may be starting to become title favourites.
