Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has applauded Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta for benching Thomas Partey in their 2-0 win over Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
For the second game in a row, the Spanish manager benched the former Atletico Madrid man in favour of Jorginho, having already omitted him from the starting lineup against Chelsea in their previous game, which raised worries among some fans.
Partey was however introduced in the 80th minute to replace Martin Odegaard, the first goalscorer of the game.
Neville believes that the decision was crucial in the win over Newcastle and helped put pressure on Manchester City by reducing their lead at the top to just one point.
“I thought they might get eaten alive [on Sunday vs Newcastle]. The atmosphere was ferocious. Arsenal grew up here a lot,” he told Sky Sports.
“Mikel Arteta deserves a lot of credit for picking Jorginho. Many would have said get Thomas Partey back in there. The class Martin Odegaard showed in the first 30 minutes was outstanding.
“Jorginho composed his teammates and guided them. (Gabriel) Martinelli and (Bukayo) Saka are still not at their best but the composure from Odegaard and Jorginho was there for all to see.
People seem to forget the importance of Thomas Partey 😤pic.twitter.com/pidWg2SRkl
— Gooner (@AFCnevers) April 30, 2023
“The reason why Manchester United players and Pep Guardiola have said Paul Scholes is their favourite player was because in moments in the hardest atmosphere in a difficult away game, those players are unique.
“They have the composure, the balance to get the team playing. That’s what Jorginho reminded me of – he was fantastic.”
Thomas Partey has played a huge role in getting Arsenal back to play in the UEFA champions league with a series of top-notch performances scoring three in 30 matches.
