Arsenal picked up their first victory and clean sheet since Premier League football returned as they beat Southampton 2-0 and Kieran Tierney put in a great performance to make sure the Gunners didn’t concede. We have taken a closer look at his performance against the Saints in the latest edition of our Unsung Heroes feature.
The victory was much-needed and means that Arsenal sit in ninth place and only six points off Manchester United in fifth, per BBC Sport.
Eddie Nketiah and Joe Willock scored the goals for Mikel Arteta and defender Rob Holding was named Man of the Match.
However Tierney’s display seems to have gone under the radar as he played a different type of role to the one we have seen him play for the North London side.
It looked like the Scotsman would be playing in his natural left-back position, however when the Saints were attacking he shifted into a left-sided centre-back and was more of a left-back when the Gunners were attacking.
[freshpress-quiz id=”292862″]
This saw Saints attackers Nathan Redmond, Danny Ings, and Michael Obafemi struggle to create a lot of good chances, especially down Tierney’s side. SofaScore gave him a great 7.2 rating, which was the third best out of the Gunners players, as he managed to make one clearance, win all four of his ground duels and win one aerial duel.
When he shifted back to his more natural position he provided a threat up front, making one key pass and creating one big chance, whilst also completing one successful dribble (he only tried one).
These stats show that Southampton struggled to get past him, and then even struggled to stop him from being an attacking threat, suggesting he adapted well to a new position under Arteta.
Arsenal had leaked five goals in their last two games before this fixture, but turning Tierney into a makeshift centre-back so that the Gunners could have five defenders when necessary proved to be a masterstroke that should be utilised for their next fixture.
The Scot has struggled with injury, but the fact he has started two out of the last three suggests he could be a key player for the final seven fixtures of the season.
Gunners fans, what are your thoughts on Tierney’s display? Comment below!
