'Eddie is a great option for us to have'

Mikel Arteta says that Eddie Nketiah is "a great option" to have after he came off the bench to salvage a point for us against Fulham.

The England Under-21 striker has had to battle for game time in recent months but he took his chance with a typically predatory strike after Alex Lacazette was forced off with an injury.

 

The potential absence of Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will stretch our striking options but Arteta has faith in Nketiah.

 

"It was great [to see him score], that's why he came on and that's why it's a great option that we have with him," Arteta told Arsenal Media.

 

"He always shows that real desire to score goals. I think he had another two big chances to score and he put one in the back of the net.

 

"I'm happy with the performance of the team," Arteta went on, "because right from the start of the game we showed real quality, desire to win the game and the right attitude.

 

"We put them in trouble, we created chances, we had a goal disallowed and then we gave a penalty away and that then puts the game in a difficult position.

 

"I think it's the only shot they had all game and after that, we had to change it. We did it in the right way, the players understood how we had to attack that block and we created enough chances to win it again."

 

VAR was a significant influence on the game, costing us a goal when the toe of Bukayo Saka's right boot was ruled offside in the build-up to what Dani Ceballos thought was his first Premier League strike.

 

"It has to be reviewed because we are believing that there is an astrophysicist up there that can determine when that ball leaves somebody's toe, from a TV perspective, and then look at the toe of somebody else in the same timing," said Arteta. 'I think it's almost impossible to do that."