Martinelli's Al-Hilal header exposes what Arsenal's winning habit hides
Arsenal keep winning through substitutes and crosses rather than craft, and Gabriel Martinelli's finishing for Al-Hilal raises a question about what Mikel Arteta gave up when he let him go.
Arsenal's 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday was decided by Noni Madueke, sent on at half-time, whose deflected effort beat Matz Sels, according to The Analyst (Opta).
Planet Football was far less complimentary about how Arsenal got there, describing a game plan built almost entirely around hoisting balls into the Forest box, with little of the subtlety usually associated with Arteta's side.
The outlet argued that the sheer volume of crosses pointed less to a deliberate tactical plan and more to players taking the safe option rather than risking the kind of pass that might be picked apart afterwards.
Three points were banked regardless, and Planet Football conceded that Arsenal fans will happily take a dull win, especially with the title race still to be settled and most rivals short of Arsenal's squad depth.
Yet the same piece suggested the performance echoed Arsenal's flat Champions League final display last season, raising doubts about whether the team has actually developed a sharper attacking identity.
Why the bench keeps bailing out the XI
The Madueke goal was not an isolated rescue act. The Analyst notes that Arsenal's last three Premier League wins have all been settled by substitutes: Bruno Guimarães scored the winner against Sunderland (2-0) and again against Leeds United (2-1), before Madueke did the same versus Forest.
Those are also the only three goals Arsenal substitutes have managed in the league this season, which makes the conversion rate remarkable. Five clubs have had substitutes score more often, with Ipswich Town's bench contributing five goals, yet none of those other strikes have been as decisive as Arsenal's trio.
Keep that scoring rate up and Arsenal's substitutes would, in theory, blow past the Premier League record for winning goals scored by replacements in a single season, which stands at six. The Analyst is careful to flag that projecting seven games of form over a full campaign is unrealistic.
That record of six, as it happens, already belongs to Arsenal, set during the 2024-25 season under Arteta. The pattern, then, is not new: this is a manager whose team has repeatedly needed second-half intervention to turn draws into wins.
Read generously, it reflects a squad with enough quality in reserve to change matches late. Read more critically, in line with Planet Football's framing, it suggests a starting attack that too often fails to create clear chances inside 90 minutes without outside help.
What Martinelli's header adds to the picture
Gabriel Martinelli, sold by Arsenal over the summer, provided a pointed contrast on Monday. Playing for Al-Hilal, he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Al-Hazem with a thumping header that left the goalkeeper rooted, in a finish Planet Football compared to something expected from Kai Havertz or Viktor Gyokeres rather than from Martinelli himself.
Al-Hilal's attack now includes Ollie Watkins and Crysencio Summerville alongside Martinelli, with Ruben Neves and Sergei Milinkovic-Savic behind them in midfield, Kalidou Koulibaly at centre-back and Morocco goalkeeper Bono protecting the net — a lineup Planet Football rated as Premier League top-six quality.
Planet Football acknowledged that Al-Hazem's marking for the goal was poor by the standards of the Premier League, but argued that dismissing the finish on those grounds misses the point: at 25, Martinelli still looked capable of more varied output in the box than he managed during his time under Arteta, where the outlet described him as having become a repetitive, one-dimensional presence.
Set against Arsenal's reliance on crosses into a crowded area and on late intervention from the bench, Martinelli's header is a reminder of what a more direct, instinctive finisher can offer when service does arrive. Whether Arsenal's current forward options can reliably provide that same conversion from open play, rather than leaning on substitutes to turn even, scrappy games, remains the question Arteta's side has yet to answer convincingly.
For now, the results keep Arsenal in touch with leaders Manchester City, and The Analyst points out that every one of those substitute goals has come in a winning cause. The next test is whether Arsenal can start producing that same cutting edge with their first-choice front line, rather than needing the bench — or a player they sold — to show them how it is done.