After all the hand-wringing about Arsenal’s lack of a striker, it turns out Mikel Merino may have been the unexpected solution.
Merino eased Arsenal’s attacking concerns with two late goals off the bench to secure a 2-0 win at relegation-threatened Leicester on Saturday that kept the Gunners in the Premier League title race.
Manchester City has found a new scoring threat, too, even though it might be too late to get involved in the title fight.
January signing Omar Marmoush netted a 14-minute hat trick in the first half of a 4-0 win over Newcastle that lifted Pep Guardiola's team into fourth place — only three points behind Nottingham Forest, which lost at Fulham 2-1.
With Arsenal playing its first game since leading scorer Kai Havertz was ruled out for the season, its makeshift front three struggled to create chances until Merino — a central midfielder — went on in the 69th minute to play as a striker.
The Spain international looked like a natural center forward as he quickly got on the end of two good crosses, heading home a pinpoint ball into the box from 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri in the 81st and then steering in a low assist from Leandro Trossard in the 87th.
Arsenal tried and failed to sign a striker in the January transfer window even before Havertz joined a long list of injured forwards, leaving manager Mikel Arteta with no other option than to tell Merino to play up front.
“It was a bit of a surprise because it’s the first time in my career I played that position,” Merino said. “But he told me go on as a striker and to make sure I go with my strengths. I think I solved it.”
The win puts Arsenal within four points of leader Liverpool, which can restore the gap to seven points when it hosts Wolves at home on Sunday.
Leicester remained rooted in the relegation zone, two points behind 17th-place Wolves.
Merino and Nwaneri boost reputations
Merino has struggled to carve out a clear role in midfield since joining Arsenal last summer. Perhaps he's found one up front instead.
“He has a sense of danger and great timing in the box,” Arteta said.
Nwaneri, meanwhile, produced another impressive performance to further boost his rapidly growing reputation.
The teenager hit the woodwork twice, shaving the top of the crossbar from outside the area on the hour mark and then hitting the post with a fierce strike in the 76th. And after scoring two spectacular recent goals against Girona in the Champions League and Man City in the league, Nwaneri turned provider this time for Merino’s breakthrough goal.
“He’s an amazing player,” Merino said about Nwaneri, a product of Arsenal's academy. “I’ve been talking to him the whole season that I needed those kinds of balls when I’m arriving in the box. And he has such a wonderful left foot that he put it right on my head, so I could only score.”
Marmoush shines for City
Unlike Arsenal, City did bring in reinforcements in January and Marmoush showed just why the club spent a reported 70 million euros ($73 million) on the former Eintracht Frankfurt player.
The Egypt forward netted his first goal for the club after running onto a long ball from goalkeeper Ederson and calmly lobbing it over Martin Dubravka.
It was Ederson's sixth career Premier League assist, a record for goalkeepers. Marmoush netted his second just five minutes later after being teed up in the area by Ilkay Gundogan, and completed his hat trick in the 33rd after Savinho broke into the area and squared for the Egyptian to slot home.
Substitute James McAtee completed the rout in the 84th, but there was a late scare for City as Erling Haaland went off after appearing to hurt his knee late on.
Forest stumbles at Fulham
Nottingham Forest's hopes of a surprising top-four finish took a blow as the team's pattern of inconsistency continued at Fulham.
Forest's last two league results were a 5-0 loss at Bournemouth followed by a 7-0 win over Brighton and the team was largely outplayed by a Fulham team that had not won at home since early December.
Calvin Bassey headed home the winner for Fulham after Forest's Chris Wood canceled out the opener by Emile Smith Rowe.
Everton's resurgence under David Moyes continued as Carlos Alcaraz scored an 80th-minute winner to secure a 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace. That makes it four wins and a 2-2 draw against archrival Liverpool in Everton's last five league games after Moyes returned to the club last month. The team was up to 13th place, tied with Palace on 30 points.
In other results, Aston Villa managed only 1-1 at home against relegation struggler Ipswich despite Ipswich defender Axel Tuanzebe being sent off for a second booking in the 40th. Ipswich took the lead through Liam Delap in the 56th and Ollie Watkins equalized.
Brentford won at West Ham 1-0, while Bournemouth beat last-placed Southampton 3-1.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Mattias Karén, The Associated Press
