Emile Smith Rowe equals Tomas Rosicky record as Arteta hails ‘dominant ’Gunners win at Norwich

 

 

Arsenal starlet Emile Smith Rowe has equalled a Premier League club record set by Tomas Rosicky in the Gunners’ 5-0 thumping of Norwich City on Boxing Day.

The England international has lost his place in the starting lineup in recent weeks, with Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Alexandre Lacazette preferred in the final third.

However, Smith Rowe has still made a consistent impact from the bench and rounded off the scoring as a substitute nine minutes after coming on at Carrow Road.

In doing so, the attacker has now scored three times in a row as a substitute for the Gunners in the Premier League, becoming only the second Arsenal player to achieve that feat.

Rosicky – dubbed by Arsenal supporters as ‘The Little Mozart’ – first did so in September 2009, with Smith Rowe now scoring off the bench against Norwich, Leeds United and West Ham United.

The 21-year-old now has eight goals to his name from 17 Premier League games this season, with Bukayo Saka, Kieran Tierney and Lacazette also finding the back of the net against Norwich.
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta hailed his Arsenal side for putting Norwich to the sword and cementing their place in the Premier League’s top four.

The Gunners thumped the Canaries 5-0 at Carrow Road, with Bukayo Saka scoring twice, and Alexandre Lacazette, Kieran Tierney and Emile Smith Rowe also getting in on the act.
The win means Arsenal have now won five games on the spin and they have scored 19 goals in the process.

This latest victory consolidated Arsenal’s position of fourth in the League, with Tottenham six points behind them – but with three games in hand after a series of postponements.

“I am very happy. Obviously it is not easy to win away from home,” said Arteta. “We performed in a dominant way from the beginning. It was really impressive today.

“I think in general, collectively and individually, we had some big performances. You don’t win 5-0 away from home if you don’t do that, so I am really happy with all the boys.
“Obviously the start [of the season] was difficult but we are scoring more goals because we are getting into those positions in much better conditions.

“Every process is done much, much better and that gives better positioning and chances to the strikers. At the moment we have been really effective.”
Arsenal were at their brilliant best against Norwich, cutting them open on numerous occasions.

And asked if it showed how far the Gunners have come since they beat Norwich 1-0 in September, Arteta said: “Yes, probably – the direction the team is taking, how we are growing, the understanding between the players. Obviously they have been playing now together for a few months.

“The unity that we show in general and the support that we are getting in every ground from our supporters is a lot.

“It’s very much linked with the way we can transmit and the way we want to play. I am really pleased with that as well.”