Why Arsenal’s Nwaneri & Calafiori were substituted early | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta provided updates on Riccardo Calafiori and Ethan Nwaneri after their substitutions against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night.

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Arsenal played out a 0-0 draw away to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, a result that was very different in isolation versus in context.

On its own, drawing away to the third-place team in the league isn’t a bad result. But the context was another Liverpool win to put them even further ahead of Mikel Arteta’s side, and another game without a goal.

In the three matches since Kai Havertz’s injury, only one Arsenal player has scored.

Ethan Nwaneri has been one of the bright sparks of those three games, yet he was withdrawn in the 77th minute on Wednesday, with Arsenal still chasing a goal. Arteta explained why afterwards.

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“He was cramping from minute 45, so we stretched him as much as we possibly could but we cannot lose the player and he was really fatigued,” Arteta explained.

Nwaneri will at least get a bit of a break now, with Arsenal not playing again until next Tuesday. The Gunners will need him at his best then, up against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League last-16.

Riccardo Calafiori was also taken off early, withdrawn at half-time of the Forest match. Arteta revealed that the left-back’s substitution was tactical.

“I took him because he got a yellow in the second minute,” Arteta said. “He had one or two situations defending Hudson-Odoi and we couldn’t not play again with 10 men.”

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Kieran Tierney wasn’t a bad player to be able to bring on, with the Scotland international seemingly in good form since his return from injury. Arsenal are relatively blessed at left-back right now, so if a player in the position is at risk of a red card, it’s better to get them off the pitch.