Danny Welbeck’s first 90 minutes a bright spark on difficult day for Arsenal

Danny Welbeck’s first 90 minutes a bright spark on difficult day for Arsenal

Arsenal suffered a fourth defeat in five Premier League matches on Saturday after losing 3-1 at eighth place West Brom.

The Gunners went into the lunchtime game with a real chance to close the gap on the top four, but fell behind when an unmarked Craig Dawson headed home after just 12 minutes.


Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal’s best player on the day, equalised just three minutes after but that was as got as it got for Arsene Wenger’s side, with substitute Hal Robson-Kanu making the most of some average defending to make it 2-1, before Dawson once again profited from woeful Arsenal marking to head home a third.

Defeat meant that Wenger’s men slipped to sixth on Sunday after Manchester United’s win at Middlesbrough, and with a six-point gap to Liverpool in fourth, it’s going to be a tough ask to secure a 21st successive top four finish this term under Wenger.

Nonetheless, Danny Welbeck’s return to the starting line-up and first full 90 minutes was a rare bright spark on a testing day for Arsenal at the Hawthorns.

The England international suffered a nasty knee injury in a 2-2 draw at Manchester City back in May 2016, which ruled him out of action for over eight months, meaning that he missed the European Championships last summer.

However, the 26-year-old has slowly but surely been building his fitness up since returning to the side in their FA Cup success at Preston in January, and made his first Premier League start in Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat at Liverpool on March 4, netting the Gunners’ only goal at Anfield.

Yet Saturday was Welbeck’s first full 90 minutes since returning from injury, which was the only real positive thing to come out of the game at the Hawthorns, especially if Alexis Sanchez’s ankle injury is as bad as is feared.

The Chilean was forced off in the second half and, given that he has netted 18 goals and laid on nine assists in the league this term, they will need someone to step up in his absence, and Welbeck could be the man.

He went close with a header in the second half, and perhaps should have scored, and although he did look rusty at times and wasn’t hugely effective, he was giving everything 100%, which can’t be said of every Arsenal player on show at the Hawthorns.

Welbeck needs minutes on the pitch to get back to that sharpness that earned him a regular spot in Roy Hodgson’s England side in recent years, and Saturday’s 90 minutes will help him in his quest to do just that.

Good news for Arsenal, good news for England, and great news for Welbeck.

Guest post by Marcus Oades