Ian Wright Lavishes Praise on Unai Emery and Arsenal Substitute in 1-1 Draw With Liverpool

Ian Wright has claimed that Unai Emery has been braver with his substitutions this season than Arsène Wenger was in the back end of his Arsenal tenure, and singled out Alex Iwobi's impact off the bench during Match of the Day.

Despite having arguably been on top for the majority of the match against Liverpool on Saturday evening, Arsenal found themselves 1-0 down in the 61st minute after James Milner's goal. Arsenal sides in the recent past may well have crumbled from this moment, but Unai Emery's side rallied with the aid of some savvy substitutions. 

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Of these substitutions, Alex Iwobi had the most defining moment as it was his pass that assisted Alexandre Lacazette's equaliser for the Gunners, earning them a much deserved draw.

Speaking about Emery's willingness to make bold personnel changes during matches, Ian Wright said: “We’ve got a manager now who is not afraid to make changes and those changes are making a difference," as reported by the Daily Star.

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He added: “You could see Emery talking about getting wide because in those areas you can hurt them and Hector Bellerin and [Sead] Kolasinac were wide."

The former Arsenal striker was particularly impressed with Iwobi's impact, adding: "Iwobi came on and was brilliant, he’s not afraid to make substitutions - 10 goals they’ve been involved in, six goals, four assists.

“He came on again and really made a big difference for us, Arsenal kept it alive and were mentally stronger."

A component which has not been part of the Gunners' arsenal in recent years has been their ability to recover from setbacks during matches. However, Emery seems to have instilled some much-needed fight into his squad and Wright was keen to point this out.

He said: “I think it’s 19 goals they’ve scored in the second half of games when they’re 1-0 down."

The 1-1 draw was full of chances for both teams and, despite believing his side could have won the game, Emery was pleased with the result after the match.

The Arsenal coach said: “I am happy with our performance. I think the balance in 90 minutes is more positive in the control against them, but it’s difficult not to let them have chances also.

“You need a little luck in some moments in the match and when we are attacking we need to find our goal.

“The result, in the end, is 1-1 and I think it is a good result after we were losing 1-0. We could have lost in one moment and in the 90 minutes we could have won also.”

Arsenal next face a home fixture against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League on Thursday night, having defeated the same opposition 1-0 in the away fixture. Victory would all but secure the Gunners' qualification into the next round of the competition.