Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is unsure of the severity of the injury that Jurrien Timber sustained in Saturday’s opening 2-1 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest.
The Netherlands international made his top-flight debut on the left-hand side of the Arsenal backline, but he came off worse in a challenge with Brennan Johnson towards the end of the first half.
Timber was given the green light to come out for the second 45, but just a few minutes after the restart, the former Ajax man went down off the ball with an apparent issue in the calf/knee area.
Timber trudged off the field to be replaced by Takehiro Tomiyasu as his Premier League inauguration was cruelly cut short, but Arsenal nevertheless held on to secure a narrow victory.
The decision to allow Timber to continue after half time was a peculiar one, but speaking to the media in his post-game press conference, Arteta insisted that the club’s medical team were happy for him to continue.
When asked if he was tempted to bring the defender off during the interval, Arteta responded: “No, the officials, the doctors, they looked at him and they were happy to continue, him as well.
“But straight away in the second half the first action he made a movement and it was a bit funny so we took him straight out and now we have to assess him to see what he has.”
Arsenal took some time to wear down the stingy Forest backline, but Eddie Nketiah – given the nod at centre-forward with Gabriel Jesus absent – broke the deadlock in the 26th minute after a beautiful piece of skill from Gabriel Martinelli.
A stunning long-range strike from Bukayo Saka doubled Arsenal’s advantage six minutes later, but Gooners faced a nail-biting final 15 minutes when Taiwo Awoniyi finished off a sweeping counter-attack late on.
The dying embers were far nervier than expected for Arsenal, but Arteta’s side ultimately began their campaign with a three-point haul, and the Gunners boss reserved special praise for Nketiah at the end.
“Delighted for him because he’s a role model. He’s a player that was so disappointed with the absence of Gabby [Jesus], and not to play a final,” Arteta said of the Englishman.
“What he did when he came on the field in the final, was that he changed the game, that’s number one. And the second one, the way he trained this week, he was telling me: “gaffer, if I don’t play, you are blind.”.
“A lot of players come and say: “ah, why am I not playing?”, and you have to try and explain. Other players tell you the reasons why they deserve to play, this is exactly what Eddie does.
“This is exactly what he did and then he goes onto the pitch, and he performs as well. It’s a clear example and a very good example for everybody.”
Arsenal return to the road on August 21 for a London derby with Crystal Palace, after which they will end the month with another capital showdown against Fulham on August 26.
