Cesc Fabregas really rates ‘good call’ Mikel Arteta made over one Arsenal player today

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Arsenal legend Cesc Fabregas has backed the decision made by Mikel Arteta to bring on Gabriel Martinelli at half-time.

Covering the match for Premier League Productions, Fabregas was delighted to see his old side win a huge game at the top of the league.

There was very little to split the two sides throughout the match as a dour first half played out with one key incident.

Mateo Kovacic can consider himself very lucky to not have been sent off at the Emirates after two poor challenges on Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice.

Mikel Arteta realised he needed to change something at half-time and Gabriel Martinelli was introduced, much to the delight of Cesc Fabregas.

The 22-year-old made an immediate impact on the left wing, pinning Kyle Walker back and putting in a huge amount of effort in both defence and attack.

In the end, he was rewarded in the final minutes as his strike was deflected past Ederson via Nathan Ake.

His recovery from injury was kept quiet until the day of the match and it appears his involvement caught Pep Guardiola’s side by surprise.

Fabregas praises Arteta’s Martinelli decision

Speaking after the match, Fabregas said: “It’s big, it’s a big statement for Arsenal.

“It’s a long time since they’ve won against Manchester City, so this is a big moment for the players.

“It was a good call bringing on Martinelli, attacking the space and taking on Walker one-on-one. It was a 50-50 game, but if anyone deserved to win, it was Arsenal.”

There were few moments of quality in either box, with William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes managing to keep Erling Haaland quiet.

Nathan Ake missed Man City’s best opportunity of the match in the opening minutes and won’t want to be reminded that he finally found the back of the net at that end of the Emirates in the closing minutes.

Arteta had a big call to make regarding Martinelli’s minutes today and Fabregas thought he got it spot on.

Not every player was as effective today as the young Brazilian.

That won’t matter to most Arsenal fans as they claimed a huge victory over one of their biggest rivals.