Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta seems to have the magic touch when it comes to introducing players from the bench to change the outcome of a game.
The Gunners boss brought on Kai Havertz from the bench against Brentford yesterday, with the Germany international scoring a late winner, heading home Bukayo Saka’s cross to make it 1-0 and send Arteta’s side top of the Premier League table.
Arsenal fans will no doubt be thrilled with the job Arteta has done since he took over as manager, and his tactical intelligence means he’s ideal to judge who could be ideal to come on and improve his team’s performance.
That worked a charm with Havertz yesterday, and this stat below shows how often Arteta has had this kind of impact with his substitutions…
10 – Following Kai Havertz’s 89th minute winner, Arsenal have now had 10 goals scored by substitutes in all competitions this season, the joint most of any Premier League side (Brighton also 10). Impact. pic.twitter.com/T1Tqpy8KBA
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 25, 2023
With Manchester City and Liverpool drawing earlier in the day, Arsenal took this opportunity to go top of the table, and it will be interesting to see if they can stay there.
AFC led the league for so much of last season before a late loss of form allowed City to win the title, but they strengthened well over the summer and will be hoping they can go the distance this time.