Stakes were high and so were the expectations when Arsenal marched to Manchester to face City in Matchday 25 of the Premier League. The Champions were able to don Arsenal at their home ground and won the game 3-1, courtesy a hat-trick from Argentine sensation, Sergio Aguero. This was Arsenal’s 6th consecutive away loss in the Premier League.
The visitors looked meek from the start when in the first minute Alex Iwobi tried too much to get the ball past their box but ended up gifting the ball to Aymeric Laporte who crossed it into the box for Aguero to head in. A ball that could have easily been cleared or even passed forward was gifted as a goal by the 22-year-old Nigerian for trying the unnecessary.
The right winger had one of the worst nights of his time in Premier League which was expected to be so before the game had begun. “The Nigerian Messi” as they call him, has a history of mishaps while playing against big teams. Accompanying him in the disaster for Arsenal was Lichsteiner who was as much as a hindrance than a help for Gunners in the right-side.
Aguero was able to score a hat-trick of goals by consistently pressing the wounded right side of Arsenal. Alex Iwobi who according to Opta had only won 27.3% of the duels in whole game and also did not take any shoot on the goal. A regular for Unai Emery this season, the academy graduate has shown patches of inconsistency that still prevails in him.
While in one game Alex Iwobi comes from the bench to lead Arsenal to a victory against Cardiff City, in the other he is dreary as one right-winger could be, attempting only 18 passes. The player was replaced by experienced Ramsey in the 66th minute but until then it was too late for the Gunners.
Alex Iwobi surely has a bucket full of talent and skills but if he wants to be in Emery’s XI, the player will have to perform at regular intervals. The signing of Denis Suarez who can also play in either wing means that Iwobi will have to step-up for the team and more so for his place in the starting eleven. This period will be very crucial for the winger, to prove his consistency and improvement being the only way to claim his spot under Emery.
