The manager of Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, has acknowledged that the game of Emile Smith Rowe has improved because he changed his lifestyle a bit.
Emile Smith Rowe put up a man-of-the-match performance when Aston Villa visited the Emirates Stadium to play a Premier League game against Arsenal on Friday, October 22.
The game was expected to be an open game since the two teams needed a win to move up the Premier League table. Fortunately for Mikel Arteta, his team took charge of the game very early in the match.
His midfielder, Thomas Partey opened the scoresheet in the 23rd minute. After the goal, Arsenal continued to dominate the game until Aston Villa’s Matt Targett fouled Alexandre Lacazette in the penalty box towards the end of the first half.
The first Ghanaian to score a @PremierLeague goal for us 🇬🇭
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 23, 2021
That's @Thomaspartey22 🙌#ARSAVL pic.twitter.com/K4h8IIdFKN
Arsenal’s captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stepped up to take the spot-kick but his former teammate at Arsenal who now plays for Aston Villa, Emi Martinez saved the kick.
In the additional 6th minute of the game, Aubameyang redeemed himself by doubling Arsenal’s lead.
In the second half, Arsenal continued to dominate the game until in the 56th minute when Emile Smith Rowe scored Arsenal’s 3rd goal in the match.
Making a key interception at one end… and finishing a flowing move at the other 💫
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 23, 2021
All in the space of just 13 seconds 🤯
👏 @emilesmithrowe pic.twitter.com/KnM9VKg7cg
Aston Villa tried to fight back towards the end of the game but all they could get was a consolation goal thanks to Jacob Ramsey’s 82nd-minute strike.
The 3-1 win helped Arsenal to temporarily move to the 9th spot with 14 points in 9 games, pending the outcome of other games this weekend.
After the win, coach Mikel Arteta showered praises on Emile Smith Rowe for his improvement, noting that the 21-year-old English attacking midfielder has changed the way he has been living which has impacted his game positively.
The coach said: “When you want to take the game to the next level when you become a real important player in such a big club, that should be the only priority and every detail is important and relevant. You have to make him aware of that, you cannot give percentages away that can make big differences and he has changed that.
“Credit to him and the staff here that are all the time monitoring and build that education with him and he’ll only get better.
“He should demand that in his game because he is capable of doing it. I’m pleased that that is developing. He still needs to develop more in other areas as well.
“The other night he wasn’t 100 percent fit but he stepped forward and he wanted to play with a difficult injury that he had.
“There is no complaining, he is just looking forwards, he is really determined, he has changed the way he is living as well a little bit and some of the habits that he had and he’s been superb.”
🥁 Introducing our #ARSAVL man of the match…
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 23, 2021
…you voted for @emilesmithrowe! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/nq2XZXNRw4
Emile Smith Rowe is the product of Arsenal football academy. He gained a promotion to the club’s senior team on August 1, 2020. Since then, the attacking midfielder has scored 10 goals and provided 9 assists in 55 appearances.
So far this season, the Englishman has scored 3 goals and provided 2 assists in 10 games in all competitions. His current contract with Arsenal will expire on June 30, 2026.
