Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was proud of the performance of Thomas Partey as Arsenal thumped Chelsea 5-0 in a Premier League fixture on Tuesday.
Leandro Trossard gave the Gunners an early advantage with their 100th goal of the season in all competitions and a dominant second-half display saw Ben White double the lead before Kai Havertz chipped in the third, netted the fourth, and White made it five in a fantastic Emirates Stadium atmosphere.
Asked on the impact of the Ghana international, who was starting his first game after a long injury spell, Arteta said: “I don’t know, but then we would have won every game because look at the run we are in, the amount of points we have already and we have missed Thomas, that’s true, since August and he’s a big player for us.
“But as well that has given the chance to all the players, to Declan to play as a six, to rediscover Declan as an eight, playing Kai as a nine, the contribution of Jorgi, he has been absolutely phenomenal as well. And the team has resources, and it has to find different ways of winning and acting and interchanging the qualities. I’m really happy.”
On Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Partey playing together, the Spaniard said: “Yeah we have the squad available apart from Jurrien [Timber] hopefully he’s going to be very soon back with us, we have to utilise the players, the quality that we have.
“We thought it was a really good game for Thomas [Partey] to come back, he looks like he is in rhythm, he trained really well the last few days, the way that they set-up, the players that they have in and the way they attack especially, we believe it was the right call to make. He stepped up and had a great performance and was really important for the team.”
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