Theo Walcott believes Gabriel Martinelli’s one-on-one miss in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth could prove extremely costly for Arsenal.
The Gunners travelled to the South Coast unbeaten in all competitions this season, just one point adrift of early Premier League leaders Liverpool.
However, William Saliba was sent off after just 30 minutes, leaving Mikel Arteta’s men with a mountain to climb at the Vitality Stadium — especially without injured trio Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber.
But despite being a man down, Arsenal still managed to carve out some decent opportunities.
Most notably, Martinelli missed a golden opportunity in the 69th minute after being played in by Mikel Merino, with Arsenal pouncing on a loose pass from Bournemouth goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Just a minute later, Ryan Christie gave the Cherries the lead, while Justin Kluivert finished the job from the penalty spot shortly after.
Saliba’s red card for pulling down Evanlison will be the most talked about moment from the match.
However, former Arsenal winger Walcott believes Martinelli’s miss could be a ‘massive moment’ in the club’s season, urging the Brazilian to rapidly improve his finishing.
“This side of Martinelli where we always feel he could improve these opportunities, which he practices endlessly. And for me, he gives the goalkeeper a very clear way he’s going to go straight away. He opens up his body too soon,” Walcott told Sky Sports of Martinelli, who has scored just eight goals in his last 43 Premier League appearances since the start of last season.
Walcott continued: “Of course, it’s a great save, but look, this is Arsenal, they want to win the league. It’s a massive moment for not just Arsenal, but for Martinelli himself.
“You don’t have to overthink it. I think at times, Martinelli, when he has a bit more time on the ball, he actually overthinks it instead of actually doing something instinctive.
And I think that’s probably what he’s down for at times with his goalscoring record at the moment.”
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