Smith Rowe consoled after Arsenal win with Arteta admitting star's struggles
Oleksandr Zinchenko was among those left comforting Emile Smith Rowe despite Arsenal’s 4-0 cruise against Bournemouth on Saturday.
The Gunners kept up their fantastic, early season momentum at the Vitality Stadium over the weekend. First-half strikes from Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard had put Mikel Arteta ’s men in control.
Kai Havertz added to the scoreline with his first Arsenal goal before Ben White wrapped up proceedings in stoppage time. While the victory triggered gleeful celebrations in both the technical area and the away section, not everyone was thrilled come the final whistle. Playmaker Smith Rowe was pictured looking downbeat and stared at the floor as the Gunners’ faithful went through their post-match repertoire.
Team-mate Zinchenko came over in an effort to get him involved in the celebrations, while he also appeared to have a word in his ear. Arteta’s assistant Albert Stuivenberg gave him a handshake before the duo began to head back to the dressing rooms. It is unclear what the reason for the 24-year-old’s reaction was.
He did have a couple of great chances late on against Bournemouth to score his first goal of the campaign but was denied by Bournemouth stopper Neto. Smith Rowe, a graduate of Arsenal’s Hale End academy, has made five appearances for the Gunners this season.
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He has yet to contribute to a goal. Arteta handed him his first start of the season during the midweek Carabao Cup win against Brentford.
Emile Smith Rowe is consoled by Mikel Arteta's assistant Albert Stuivenberg (Twitter)
Smith Rowe missed a couple of late chances against Bournemouth (Getty Images)Who was your man-of-the-match in Arsenal's win against Bournemouth? Share your thoughts in the comments below
While he was impressed with his showing, the Spaniard believes that Smith Rowe is not yet ready to play a full game. He said: “I think he had really good moments in the first half, and the game was much easier for him, the way he was developing with his qualities, and the game we started to play after five or ten minutes in the second half, and then after he was struggling more.
“Physically, he’s still not there to play 90 minutes, we have to bear in mind that we have four or five players in that field and that was big concern for us today in the line-up, because we have seven at Colney that are not fit now.”
Smith Rowe was eventually taken off against the Bees. Asked why he was substituted, Arteta added: “He did [pick up a knock] but it wasn’t because of that, we had to manage his minutes. His load has seen a big spike in the last two weeks as well, and he was struggling to finish the game, the same with Reiss [Nelson].”
Smith Rowe will hope to earn another chance to impress this week. Arsenal take on French side Lens in the Champions League on Tuesday before a crunch clash against Manchester City at the weekend.
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