Arsenal just cannot stop winning, as they pulled off a dominant 2-0 victory at home in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, sending Bayer Leverkusen packing in the Granit Xhaka (and Bernd Leno) Derby.
The star of the night for the Gunners was Eberechi Eze, who scored the opening goal in thunderous fashion, volleying with such ferocity that he had the stadium roaring on its feet and both fans and other players buzzing about the goal long after the game.
And even Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was highly impressed with the goal, telling reporters after the Leverkusen game, via Hand of Arsenal, “The team was immense today. When you talk about technique and making contact..that’s why he is here. (Eze) Enjoy tonight, we have a beautiful final on Sunday.”
“That’s why he is here.” Sure sticks out, doesn’t it? Captain Martin Odegaard is going to return to Arsenal from his knee injuries soon, but with goals like that, Eze is changing games for Arsenal and showing to Arteta that he deserves plenty of minutes in the attacking midfield even with a healthy Odegaard.
As Arteta implies, these kinds of game changing moments and great goals from nothing are why Eze is there. He adds that bit of quality as a scorer and shooter from distance that the others don’t have, and as much as Arteta likes his defensive pragmatism, he has seen that light that in a team with as much control as he has, he can afford to – and should encourage – a player like Eze to just take those risks and go for it.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.