“He can do whatever he wants.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was full of praise for Martin Zubimendi after his performance against Chelsea. The Spaniard scored a goal in the 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge, helping the Gunners take the lead in the home game next month.

Speaking to the media after the match, Arteta said that Zubimendi has the qualities to match Declan Rice, and that they just need to help him unlock that part of his game. He added that the midfielder is capable of doing what he wants on the pitch, and said (via the club website):

“I think when we talk about Zubi, the question arises: what else can he do? He can do what he wants, it’s a bit similar to Declan’s qualities. We just have to continue to unlock that in his system, in his brain, because he is so good at occupying different spaces, carrying the ball, dribbling, winning duels, and he has talent when he gets into the final set and into the box.

“He’s so calm; he sees the picture very clearly. The picture is clear sometimes, I know the parts of the pitch and what he did today, I think it’s phenomenal, not just the goal but also the performance.”

Arsenal took the lead through Ben White before Viktor Gyokeres doubled the lead. Alejandro Garnacho quickly pulled one back in the second half, but a goal from Zubimendi saw the Gunners regain their 2-goal lead. Mikel Merino was denied thanks to a brilliant save from Robert Sanchez, minutes before Garnacho got his second of the match to make it 3-2.

Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal should have finished Chelsea game

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal failed to make the most of their chances of finishing in the semi-final. He believes the victory would have been better if they had managed to go into the second leg with a bigger lead and said:

“I have to congratulate the players for the match we just played against a very good opponent. With so much quality on that pitch, we felt at the end, after the 1-3 and the very dominant period we had at that point, that we had two huge chances to score the fourth.”

“The result would have been very different, but in that moment they had an action, they created a corner, they scored a goal and off they went. So this feeling is not perfect, but we also have to value what the team did again.”

Arsenal will host Chelsea in the second leg on February 3 at the Emirates.