Mikel Arteta reacts to Fabio Vieira display in Arsenal draw with Sporting

By Jordan Harris

Mikel Arteta has suggested that Fabio Vieira was Arsenal’s most dangerous player against Sporting, and claimed that he absolutely loves the Portuguese – in comments reported by Football London.

The Gunners are in a decent position going into the second-leg of their Europa League tie. A second-half own goal ensured that the Premier League leaders secured a 2-2 draw.

Sporting definitely caused some problems for a changed Arsenal side. But Arsenal will feel that they deserved a draw overall. And a number of players stepped up and sent a message to Arteta with their displays.

Arteta praises Fabio Vieira

Fabio Vieira was one to come into the starting lineup. It was his corner which set up William Saliba for the opening goal in the first-half. And the 22-year-old showed his class on a number of occasions.

Certainly, Arteta was extremely impressed with what he saw from Vieira as he reacted to his performance after the full-time whistle.

“Really happy with him. I think he deserves more minutes than he’s had in the last two months. You saw tonight he was probably our most dangerous player. He’s a player that I absolutely love,” he said, as reported by Football London.

It would be a surprise if Vieira was expecting to be integrated into the Arsenal side so gradually. He has only made two starts in the Premier League, with a further 14 appearances coming from the bench.

He has been one of the players to suffer from the Gunners being so good this season. But he will take a lot of encouragement from Arteta’s comments.

He would not be the first player to really benefit from Arteta not rushing him. Both Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba went through turbulent spells before the Arsenal boss really gave them their chance.

Ultimately, if he can emulate those two, Arsenal will be able to reflect on another masterstroke from Arteta.

It definitely appears that he is another special talent waiting in the wings.