Arsenal ‘impactors’ make their mark to drag Gunners back into contention | OneFootball

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Not for the first time this season, Leandro Trossard was Arsenal’s saviour last night.

The Belgian came off the bench to score a late equaliser and ensure that the Gunners head to Munich next week with this tie firmly in the balance.

It was the sixth time this season that Trossard has struck after coming on as a substitute, which is more than any player in Europe’s top five leagues.

Last night’s goal also meant he became the first Arsenal player in history to score in each of his first four home games in the Champions League, and he is proving to be one of the best buys of the Mikel Arteta era.

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Arsenal paid Brighton just £26million to sign Trossard in January last year — and that modest fee now looks a snip.

Only Bukayo Saka has scored more goals for Arsenal this season, and Trossard’s ability to play anywhere across the forward line makes him the perfect ‘super sub’.

“Every time you ask him to play, whether it’s wide or as a No9, it flows and he’s a real threat,” Arteta said of Trossard earlier this season. “I think he connects everybody.

“He’s so intelligent. He moves in the spaces in ways that attract [the opposition] and generates spaces and options for people.”

One of the changes Arteta has made at Arsenal since being appointed in 2019 was rebranding his substitutes as “impactors”.

The move was born out of a conversation with the then-England rugby head coach Eddie Jones, who found changing the name of his replacements to “finishers” altered the mindset of players.

Arteta now believes he has game-changers on his bench for the business end of the season — and he certainly saw the benefit of having “impactors” last night.

“I think they all had a big impact tonight,” he said. “We brought Alex [Zinchenko] on at half-time to change a few things, and then

with Leo and Gabi [Jesus], and Thomas [Partey] when he’s needed, it became a bit chaotic in the game and there was a big risk of losing it.”

Injuries hit Arsenal hard earlier in the season, but now with everyone bar Jurrien Timber back fit, suddenly their bench looks stacked.

Trossard scored the equaliser last night, but it was made after excellent play by fellow substitute Jesus.

Picking the ball up outside the area, the Brazilian dribbled into the box before chopping past Matthijs de Ligt and Leon Goretzka to tee up Trossard, who coolly passed the ball beyond Manuel Neuer.

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It was a brilliant piece of skill and, with hindsight, Arteta may regret not starting him.

Jesus brings chaos to Arsenal’s attack and his movement caused Bayern’s defence problems.

Centre-backs Eric Dier and De Ligt largely dealt well with Kai Havertz, but they struggled when Jesus came on and pulled them out of position.

Jesus also has great experience at this level from his time with Manchester City, and he helped Arsenal keep their nerve when chasing the game at 2-1.

The Gunners will certainly need more of that in the return leg at the Allianz Arena.

The one concern would be Jesus’s knee, which has been troubling him ever since he injured it at the World Cup in 2022.