Mikel Merino: "He is such a special player", "Put in a solid shift" - Arsenal fans hail 'underrated' star for his performance in 4-1 Portsmouth win

Arsenal fans have heaped praise on Mikel Merino for his performance during their FA Cup third round clash against Portsmouth. The Spaniard was handed a midfield shift and delivered a sensational display as the Gunners ran out 4-1 winners at Fratton Park.

In what came as a surprise, Mikel Arteta’s side found themselves behind after just three minutes, with Colby Bishop pouncing on Kepa Arrizabalaga’s save that came his way to send the home fans wild.

However, the lead lasted only five minutes as Eberechi Eze’s corner sparked a goalmouth scramble. Christian Norgaard appeared to get the final touch, but it went down as an own goal from Portsmouth midfielder Andre Dozzell.

Arsenal turned the game on its head before the half-hour mark through Gabriel Martinelli, who glanced the ball home from another corner. Noni Madueke had the opportunity to make it three from the spot before the break, but he dragged his effort wide.

The third goal eventually came six minutes after the restart from Martinelli, who poked in Gabriel Jesus’ low cross from close range. Martinelli completed his hat-trick with another header with 18 minutes left to play.

While Merino neither provided an assist nor was on the scoresheet, he impressed with his excellent passes from deep and helped Arsenal control the game. After the match, fans took to X to laud his display, with one writing:

“Merino is such a special player. Arsenal needs his technical quality in the midfield, his ability to receive the ball, technical ability on ball and ability to play those through balls. We need to see more of him in midfield combining with Zubi or Rice, they should be rotated.”

Another tweeted:

“Can't even clown Merino today. Dude put in a solid shift.”

A third added:

“Merino brilliant today, such an underrated player.”

One remarked:

“Merino is a complete baller.”

“Mikel Merino is a proper baller,” another echoed the same sentiments.

“We knew they were going to give us a game” – Mikel Arteta on Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Portsmouth

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta claimed he knew Portsmouth were going to put up a fight after their emphatic win on the south coast. He told TNT Sports:

“We knew that they were going to give us a game and that is the beauty of this competition, that the margin becomes really close especially when you give them momentum and a goal. We had to find ways to be dominant and adapt to margins. Second half was much better. We did react and we did what we have to do. We are positive apart from the result because we made many changes.”

The Gunners will find out their fourth round opponents prior to Monday night’s match between Liverpool and Barnsley.

Edited by Ezekiel Olamide