Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted preparations for his side’s win over Brentford were derailed by a bug which swept through his squad.
The Gunners came from a goal down to complete a 3-1 victory at the Gtech Community Stadium to move back up to second and six points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool to keep their title dream alive.
But Arteta revealed several of his players were struck down by a virus on the eve of the game.
Kai Havertz was sent home with the bug, while Declan Rice was a surprise starter on the bench.
Captain Martin Odegaard was rumoured to be struggling in the hours ahead of kick-off. However, he was able to start the fixture before he was replaced in the second period.
“It affected players on the pitch and off the pitch,” said Arteta when quizzed about the bug.
“It is nothing serious. But it wasn’t the ideal situation. In relation to the symptoms, with Kai it was obvious. He wasn’t feeling well at all. He had very clear symptoms so stay away from it, put him in a car, and go back to London.
“These things happen. In this period, there are always things thrown at you, infections, viruses, so I try to delay the line-up as late as possible because you can get up in the morning and unfortunately have a surprise like this.”
Arteta is hopeful the virus will have abated for his side’s trip to Brighton on Saturday.
But it provided another selection headache for the Spaniard with star man Bukayo Saka already ruled out for two months.
The Gunners were behind after just 13 minutes when Bryan Mbeumo struck for Brentford before David Raya nearly gift-wrapped the hosts a second when he allowed Keane Lewis-Potter’s shot to slip through his grasp.
Raya clawed the ball off his own line and one minute later Gabriel Jesus headed Arsenal back on level terms – the Brazilian’s sixth goal in four matches.
Asked what was going through his mind following Raya’s error, Arteta said: “Hopefully that the watch doesn’t vibrate.
“It was an unusual action from David. But it happens and we were lucky that the goal didn’t go in because it could have changed the game.”
Mikel Merino then put the visitors ahead after 50 minutes before Gabriel Martinelli added a third with Ethan Nwaneri – the 17-year-old handed his first Premier League start in place of Saka – involved in both goals.
Arteta continued: “We went a goal down so it becomes a big mountain to climb, but the team showed composure and they were emotionally very calm. We deserved to win the game.
“We had a little issue (with the bug) and the team still performs and we had a 17-year-old (Nwaneri) in that starting line-up and it is great to see how he played with that courage and determination.
“In that position it wasn’t because of the bug but because he was the best player in that position to start the game.
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“He made his debut here (against Brentford in 2023) and then today he made his full Premier League debut. Sometimes that feeling comes in and you feel it is the right one.”
Brentford remain in 12th but Bees boss Thomas Frank said: “I go into every game and I believe we can win and the way the team played today they showed they believe, too.
“But we are competing against a team that is fighting for the title so it is not a massive surprise we lost today. Hopefully we can get better and improve and I am confident we will win games.”
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
