It is difficult to gauge how replaceable or irreplaceable a player is until they are no longer in a team. Arsenal have passed their first test without the injured Gabriel Jesus after coming from behind to beat West Ham, with the Brazilian’s replacement Eddie Nketiah getting on the scoresheet.
Jesus had gone 11 games without finding the net for Arsenal prior to his World Cup call-up for Brazil, but anyone who has watched Mikel Arteta’s side this season will know that those critical of the striker’s missed chances are missing the point: goals are no longer the only currency by which forwards are judged.
He sets the tempo of Arsenal’s play and turns bad passes into good ones. Jesus won more tackles (16) than any other Arsenal player pre-World Cup.
Jesus’ misfortune presented a rare opportunity for Nketiah, who started his first Premier League game of the season, six months after signing a new long-term deal with the club.
Nketiah is in the unenviable position of needing to fill in for Jesus while accepting that no matter how well he performs in the role, he is more likely than not to drop back down to the bench upon his return. There has even been talk of Arsenal entering the transfer market for another forward to compensate for Jesus’ absence.
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The link play with Arsenal’s attacking midfielders was not quite as smooth as it is when Jesus leads the line.
As the Gunners trailed at half-time to Said Benrahma’s penalty, there will have been plenty of discussions around the Emirates about how much Jesus was being missed.
Perhaps even Arsene Wenger, back in the stadium for the first time since his departure in 2018, had one or two chats with those in his vicinity about Arsenal’s centre forward in the No 14 shirt.
“This for me, is a good opportunity because those are the balls that I used to like,” said Thierry Henry, Arsenal’s most famous No 14, said of one of Nketiah’s missed chances during Amazon Prime’s half-time coverage.
“If he cuts back on his left foot he is free. But that will come, he is making runs. You can say that he found himself in these situations or he could have done better. For me, he had an OK half but the goal was missing, of course.”
But as they have done all season, Arsenal eventually charged through their opponent’s low block. There was a slice of fortune about the first scored by Bukayo Saka, who controlled a mishit Martin Odegaard shot before finishing calmly, and Gabriel Martinelli’s second, while taken smartly, beat Lukasz Fabianski far too easily at his near post.
The third, finished by Nketiah was undoubtedly the pick of the lot. There was no sign of inexperience on the 23-year-old’s part when he expertly outmaneuvered Thilo Kehrer out of the way, or of anxiety when he located the bottom corner with a confident strike.
The turn, the finish!
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 26, 2022
Eddie Nketiah provides the clinical finish to a beautifully worked goal#PLonPrime #ARSWHU pic.twitter.com/xcmUi0RQGK
Nketiah celebrated with a beaming smile that stretched from one side of his face to the other – a smile of satisfaction and of relief.
It was a big moment for him and a big moment for Arsenal. Nketiah proved he can be an effective striker at this level towards the tail end of last season, but replacing Jesus is a much different proposition to replacing Alexandre Lacazette, who offered neither goals nor energy towards the end of his Arsenal career. West Ham faded badly in the second half, but Nketiah seized his opportunity to impress.
“I love this man on the screen right now because I know the journey,” said Henry of Nketiah after the game. “It’s never easy for him, but somehow he always delivers when people call on him.”
“It was a huge talking point, a big question mark for Nketiah coming into this game,” added Eni Aluko. “Can he fill that massive space that Jesus has left? He’s answered that question.
“We saw glimpses in the first half, great movement, a few looks in the first half, but the goal in the second was brilliant and that will be massive for his confidence.”
Such is Jesus’ influence that news of his knee injury – sustained while representing his country in a dead rubber group match against Cameroon in Lusail – and subsequent need for surgery, would have filled Arteta and Arsenal’s fans with dread. Nketiah’s display will have gone some way to easing those concerns.
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