Theo Walcott was not included in the starting line up of Arsenal for their previous Premier League game against Hull City due to the lack of training. Arsene Wenger, the manager of Arsenal, disclosed that in the post match press conference.
However, Walcott went on the pitch in the 73rd minute of the game and showed good intensity out there.
Arsenal ended up winning that game by 2-0. The players who found the back of the net for them were Nicklas Bendtner (in the 2nd minute) and Mesut Ozil (in the 47th minute).
It was the 11th win for the Gunners in the ongoing edition of Barclays Premier League. With these 3 points, they have now got 34 in the points’ column. They are 4 points ahead of Chelsea which is the no. 2 side in the table.
In the post match press conference, when Wenger was asked why he did not start with Walcott, he said, “Theo had been struggling with a stomach bug last week and he hadn’t trained that much before the match against Cardiff City. He was struggling with his illness on Monday as well and he couldn’t train that day either. So, because of the lack of training, we decided not to put him on the ground right from the start.”
Wenger also hailed the Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner for scoring that stunning goal in the second minute of the match.
The Arsenal boss said, “Nick is a very talented bloke and when 100% fit, he can be devastating for the opposition. I have got a lot of confidence in him.”
Bendtner has been at the Emirates Stadium since the last 8 years and has already featured for the Gunners in more than 100 Premier League matches.