"He was really good": Arteta praises £44m Arsenal star after 100% aerials & tackles vs Slavia Prague

Arsenal picked up a 10th consecutive win in all competitions after a 3-0 victory over Slavia Prague in the Champions League yesterday.

Slavia had a good start in front of their fans and tried to impose themselves on the Gunners with plenty of high pressing and physical duels.

However, Mikel Arteta’s side eventually took control over proceedings. Bukayo Saka broke the deadlock from the penalty spot in the first half.

The second half was the Mikel Merino show. The Spain international scored twice in the space of 22 minutes to put the game beyond Slavia’s sights.

Merino was undoubtedly the man of the match, but there were several other good performances.

Piero Hincapie made his full Champions League debut for the Gunners in the left-back postion, and he was lauded by Arteta for his overall display.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Arteta said: “Very happy, he can play in those two positions, as a centre-back or full-back.

“Today, the way we had to set up and the situation that we have to imagine with the ball.

“I think he was really good, really strong and really efficient, because now he’s got some minutes in the last week with two games and the last minutes against Burnley.

“So, we’re getting him up to speed.”

We were anticipating Myles Lewis-Skelly to start at left-back. The England international got the nod over Riccardo Calafiori in the last two European matches.

However, Arteta went with Hincapie, knowing that there could be a physical battle against Slavia. The Ecuadorian produced an impressive defensive showing.

The 23-year-old only completed 14 out of 19 passes attempted, but won 100 percent of his ground (6/6) and aerial duels (2/2) against the Czech heavyweights.

The Bayer Leverkusen loanee became the first Arsenal player to contest eight plus duels in a European game in the last 10 seasons and win 100 percent of them.

Hincapie also won 100 percent of his tackles (2/2) and drew three fouls from the opposition.

The £44 million-rated star is likely to drop to the bench when the Gunners take on newly-promoted Sunderland in the Premier League on the road on Saturday.

Calafiori has been ever-present at left-back in the English top-flight this season. The Italian is expected to reclaim his position in the back four against the Black Cats.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com

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