Mikel Arteta praised Riccardo Calafiori after the summer signing made an impressive cameo appearance as a second half substitute against Atalanta.
The Italy international has had to bide his time for opportunities since his arrival from Bologna in the summer and missed the north London derby as a result of the calf injury he picked up playing for his country a fortnight ago.
Jurrien Timber, whose first season with Arsenal was wiped out due to a knee injury, has made a convincing bid to nail down the left-back spot this season, but is likely to face increased competition from Calafiori in the coming weeks.
The versatile defender replaced Timber midway through the second period last night and made an eye-catching contribution, according to his manager.
Arteta said: ‘He was really good when he came on I thought. The substitution helped us to get a bit more composure and dominate the game better.’
A point will likely prove to be a positive one in the long-run as Arsenal navigate their way through the group stage of the reformatted Champions League, but Arteta acknowledged his side will need to demonstrate more composure, particularly in the absence of injured captain Martin Odegaard.
He said: ‘I think we started the game really well in the first 20, 25 minutes. I think we played with the ball in the right areas, with a lot of intention and were effective, but without creating too many clear-cut chances.
‘After that, we lost control of the game because we were very inconsistent with the ball, giving a lot of simple balls away.
‘Aainst a team that are man-to-man [that] costs you moments to transition because the moment you lose your man, there is a space and you are in equal numbers in the backline or overloaded. Defensively we didn’t suffer – that’s the reality.
‘But in the second half we gave a penalty away and I witnessed two of the best saves I’ve probably ever seen in my career to save us from that moment. After that, the game continued in the same way as after the first 25 minutes.
‘We were inconsistent with the ball. We had moments but we never got it to dominance or a threat. Then we had a big chance with Gabi Martinelli to win the game, which unfortunately didn’t go in. [Overall] there’s a lot to improve.
