We have often praised Emile Smith Rowe, Alexandre Lacazette and many other attackers in recent performance during Arsenal’s four-game winning run.
However, there was one unsung hero among the many solid performers during Saturday’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United in the FA Cup.
Mohamed Elneny proved to be one of the players who escaped the attention of the masses despite the fact he put in a neat and tidy performance for Mikel Arteta’s men.
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The Egypt international had more touches of the ball than any other player on the pitch, racking up 108. However, it was his use of it which would have caught the glance of the more keen-eyed viewers. Elneny ended the game with the highest pass accuracy of any Reds player to start the game with 94.4%.
In recent weeks the midfielder has been accused of being a negative player in terms of his passing with some sections of the Emirates Stadium faithful laying into the ace. However, that wasn’t the case on Saturday with the former Basel man playing the majority of his passes forward (72) and with 29 of them being played into the final-third.
And it seems the £6.3m-rated man did his best to limit Newcastle’s attack and shield his two centre-backs with the Geordies having just two shots on target.
Sometimes Elneny can be overly criticised for his negative football as shown by some of the tweets sent by Gunners fans. However, against Steve Bruce’s side the African was in top form and his display can hopefully lift him to better things for the remainder of the campaign.
