Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, has praised Ghana’s Black Stars target Eddie Nketiah for another goalscoring display in the Europa League, and insisted the young forward was a worthy Arsenal starter.
Nketiah scored his second goal in two European appearances, pouncing after Kieran Tierney hit the post, as Arsenal swept aside Bodo/Glimt 3-0 at the Emirates.
The 23-year-old is yet to start in the Premier League this season, but Arteta declared himself delighted with the young forward on and off the field.
“Eddie’s work rate, his attitude and his application is phenomenal, and he has a natural ability,” Arteta said.
“I’m really happy to have him in the team. He has the quality to play as a starter and as a finisher.”
Nketiah partnered Gabriel Martinelli as Arteta made eight changes ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool, but he insisted he was driven by competition in attack and hoped for more opportunities.
“It’s nice to get two wins, two goals,” he told BT Sport. “I’m going to keep pushing and hopefully keep scoring and helping the team.
“Everyone is going to play their role so we all have to keep fighting and pushing to be ready so we can keep winning.”
Rob Holding and Fabio Vieira sealed a ninth victory out of 10 matches in all competitions this season but Arteta admitted he thought his side’s overall display was far from first-rate.
“I’m really happy with the win: six points now, with a clean sheet, and the way we attacked the box,” Arteta said. “In the final third, I think we looked really dangerous and the goals we scored were good.
“But in general I think we lacked a bit of connection between the players; too many simple things, too many giveaways. We’ve weren’t that consistent throughout the game. A lot of players haven’t played a lot of minutes together and you could feel that in their understanding what to do and when to do it.”
