William Saliba heaped praise on Martin Zubimendi after Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over Chelsea, saying he was confident the midfielder would ‘help lots’ within the club winning major silverware.
Goals from Ben White, Viktor Gyokeres and Zubimendi gave Arsenal the sting on this yr’s all-London Carabao Cup semi-final in what was a compelling first leg at Stamford Bridge.
The Gunners gave the impression to be cruising towards Wembley when Gyokeres capitalised on Robert Sanchez’s fumble shortly after the break to send the away end into raptures.
Nevertheless, second-half substitute Alejandro Garnacho struck either side of Zubimendi’s superb shimmy and finish within the 71st minute to make sure the Blues remain firmly within the tie on the halfway stage.
The competition will resume again in two-and-a-half weeks’ time on the Emirates, where Arsenal will look to finish their wretched run of 4 successive semi-final defeats to bed.
Manchester City are within the driving seat on this yr’s other semi-final having come away from holders Newcastle with a 2-0 win, with Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki getting on the scoresheet at St James’ Park.
‘We’re completely satisfied to win. We all know that it is rarely easy to come back here and win,’ Saliba told CBS Sports shortly after Arsenal’s victory.
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‘Obviously we could have done higher because I feel we conceded two goals that we could have avoided.
‘But at the top, we won. We all know that we’ve to complete the job at home.’
Asked if Mikel Arteta had a special pre-match message for Arsenal’s squad given the importance of the derby, Saliba replied: ‘To be honest, today he didn’t have to tell us that it was a derby since it was a semi-final so we knew we needed to beat them if we desired to go to the ultimate.
‘We lost two games within the semi-finals last season so we didn’t need the boss to inform us it was a derby because we knew we needed to do the job.’
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Zubimendi was seemingly at the center of every part Arsenal did in west London, once more providing an assuredness in the midst of the park that convinced Arsenal to part with £51million to sign him from Real Sociedad last summer.
‘He’s a excellent player,’ Saliba said of the Spain midfielder.
‘He’s never under pressure, you possibly can give him the ball, he can have someone on his back and he never has the pressure.
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‘He’s so good for us with and without the ball and today he showed that he can rating as well.
‘He’s scored too many goals this season, to be honest, for a number six!
‘So it’s good to have him and I’m sure that he’ll help us lots to win some titles.’
In Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, Arsenal are widely considered to have certainly one of the best centre-back partnerships in world football – adulation the Frenchman doesn’t draw back from.
‘For me, yes, we’ve one of the best partnership on the earth,’ Saliba said.
‘But we’ve to prove it with titles, after all, because if we are saying we’re one of the best and win nothing, it means nothing.
‘So we’ve to win titles and at the top of the season we’ll say that we’ve one of the best partnership on the earth. Now we have to prove it on the pitch with titles, after all.’
Saliba admitted he was ‘drained’ of ending seasons empty-handed, reassuring fans that Arsenal’s squad ‘need to win every part’ this term.
‘We wish to win every part,’ the previous Saint-Etienne defender explained.
‘I feel I’m bored with winning the season without anything in my pocket so now we’ve 4 competitions.
‘My pockets were empty last yr and now we would like to win every part: Carabao Cup, FA Cup, Premier League, Champions League.
‘After all, it’s difficult, it’s easy to say it, so we would like to prove it on the pitch and we’ll give every part to win every title.’
Who will win this yr’s Carabao Cup?
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