Granit Xhaka continued his recent meteoric turnaround at Arsenal by scoring the winning goal against PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League on Thursday as the London outfit ran out 1-0 victors at the Emirates.
Victory ensured the Gunners safe passage through to the next round of the European tournament. They can guarantee a top spot group finish with a point in Holland next week.
Mikel Arteta made six changes to his side that earned a hard-fought Premier League victory over Leeds last time out, with the Spaniard keeping one eye on Sunday’s trip to Southampton.
Veteran midfielder Xhaka retained his place and repaid the trust shown in him by Arteta by excelling in both his defensive and attacking duties against a high-scoring PSV side.
Former Arsenal skipper and BT Sport pundit Martin Keown praised Xhaka’s ability to adapt his game to suit the team’s demands.
‘In the early days he used to play box-to-box, but now it seems that it’s best to have one sitting with another flying forward.
‘We saw tonight he knows exactly when to go forward and gamble a little bit. He’s just waiting for that opportunity. But the quality of the finish was outstanding. I know it’s the first time off his right foot but the technique was really very good on it.
‘He’s going to enjoy that for some time. He’s had a difficult period at the club but he’s well over that now though.
‘He’s sitting there going “I’m just going to go a little bit more advanced here, we’ve got plenty of bodies behind me, and I’ll just wait in acres of space” and it just comes on to him and he swings that right foot, never scored with it before in an Arsenal shirt and he’s certainly made up for it there.
‘He’s just enjoying the moment, enjoying the momentum of the team. He’s really important right now for Arsenal’s success.’
Two seasons ago Arsenal fans would have laughed at the notion of offering the Swiss star another contract at the Emirates. Now there are some supporters fearing the 30-year-old could depart at the end of the season.
Keown labelled the contract situation as ‘interesting’ and admitted he wouldn’t be surprised to see the combative midfielder leave at the end of the season.
‘Interesting one. I think if they win a trophy he gets a new contract. Otherwise he may disappear out of the back door and bring somebody else in,’ he said.
‘There’s talk of him maybe going into coaching. I think he’s definitely got the leadership skills that are there, it’s whether or not it’ll be at Arsenal.
‘Arteta will encourage that and develop that. He thinks he’s an important player in that group and he’s showing it right now,’ added Keown.