All posts tagged: Eze

Eze and Havertz injured as Arsenal win the hard way against Newcastle

Eze and Havertz injured as Arsenal win the hard way against Newcastle

Published by Sam Flores

Mikel Arteta has called Arsenal’s game against Newcastle United the start of a “new season” after a fortnight in which their nine-point lead over Manchester City evaporated. The two title contenders are both locked on 70 points and the same goal difference, with City top courtesy of scoring three more goals. Arsenal surrendered control of the race by losing at the Etihad last Sunday. While City’s victory made them bookmakers’ favourites to win the title, there were perhaps reasons for optimism. The presence of Eberechi Eze, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz in the same line-up helped Arsenal produce possibly their best performance of 2026, and they were the width of a post away from getting a result. Bukayo Saka and Riccardo Calafiori returning to the squad today strengthens them further, and fixtures against Newcastle, Fulham, West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace look like a favourable run-in. Much depends on whether they can mentally recover from butchering so many opportunities to put Manchester City to bed throughout the season, notably in January when Pep Guardiola’s team …

Eze thunderbolt guides Arsenal past Mansfield into FA Cup quarter-finals

Eze thunderbolt guides Arsenal past Mansfield into FA Cup quarter-finals

Published by Sam Flores

MANSFIELD, England, March 7 : Arsenal survived a genuine scare in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday as they edged past spirited third-tier Mansfield Town 2-1, with Eberechi Eze’s thunderbolt sending the Premier League leaders into the quarter-finals. Noni Madueke gave Arsenal the lead going into halftime at Field Mill but Will Evans equalised for Nigel Clough’s Mansfield before Eze scored in the 66th minute to ensure the top-flight side progressed to the last eight. “Happy to score. I had the space and the opportunity to shoot. So I took it,” Eze told TNT Sports. “It was a difficult environment to play in. But we did what we had to do and we are through to next round which is the important thing.” Mikel Arteta named a much-changed side, starting teenagers Max Dowman and Marli Salmon, as Arsenal became the first Premier League side to start a competitive game with two players aged 16 or under in any competition. However, Arteta’s changes nearly backfired as the hosts, feeding off a raucous home crowd, gave …

Eberechi Eze torments Tottenham again as Arsenal bounce back in title race

Eberechi Eze torments Tottenham again as Arsenal bounce back in title race

Published by Sam Flores

Mikel Arteta believes his Arsenal side showed “what we are made of” by hammering Tottenham four days after the draw at Wolves left the Spaniard feeling “ashamed”. Arsenal threw away a 2-0 lead at Wolves, which led to concerns they would again throw away their advantage at the top of the table. But the Arsenal manager said he and his team were determined to use the result as a “turning point” and put their faltering Premier League title challenge back on track. Arsenal will believe they achieved that with this convincing 4-1 victory over Tottenham, which re-established their lead over Manchester City at the top of the table to five points, having played a game more. Afterwards, Arteta also offered some insight into how it felt for him, the players and staff following the Wolves game and declared that everyone needed a little “love”. “After what happened against Wolves and the manner that we lost two points in the last kick of the game, it was tough,” he said. “But that’s the beauty of this …

Eberechi Eze shows Mikel Arteta how Arsenal can unlock his best in Wigan demolition

Eberechi Eze shows Mikel Arteta how Arsenal can unlock his best in Wigan demolition

Published by Sam Flores

It should be stressed that Arsenal and Eze were doing this against highly accommodating opponents. Few teams in world football can cope when Arsenal play with the beautiful ferocity of their opening half hour and it was fathoms above the capabilities of the team 22nd in League One, who have conceded 14 goals in their past five matches. The match felt ripe to be seized by Eze for one of those Gareth Bale vs Inter Milan-type performances. Instead his moments of genius were matched by needless losses of possession, which might have been punished by a better counter-attacking team. His defensive contributions do not lack effort, but he is clearly more effective with time and space on the ball than when out of possession. Certainly he seems unlikely to thrive when his average position is deeper than anyone other than Declan Rice and Arsenal’s two centre-backs among their outfielders, as it was against Brentford. Even as the main man at Palace he could go quiet during games, but would often provide a defining moment from …