Arsenal forward Kai Havertz scored his first goal for the club as they beat Bournemouth 4-0 at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
As Kai Havertz staggered his run-up upon approaching the penalty spot, time itself had frozen.
Martin Odegaard had been hacked to the ground by Ryan Christie, referee Michael Salisbury pointing to the spot.BukayoSaka was
readying himself to take the penalty, before Havertz emerged from the background.
Both Saka, and Odegaard, Arsenal’s other penalty-kick taker, had decided this one was for the German.
The away side were already 2-0 up by this point, the game tightly wrapped up. Yet, as Havertz stepped up to coolly slot the ball into the bottom-left corner, one could see the relief drain from his body as he jogged towards the away end swamped by team-mates.
They knew, too, the significance was far wider than going three goals up against Bournemouth. The gesture signified what this Gunners side have become: a totality of all its parts.
A goal for Havertz and Man City losing on the same day would have been a dream Mikel Arteta could only have wished for in the morning, the betting odds surely off the charts.
Havertz’s struggles since moving to the Gunners have been well-noted, the zero goals and assists in nine games adding to that. It was this goal that could prove to be the turning point. Arteta certainly thinks so.
He said: ‘I am really happy for the win, but I am even happier to be part of a team that shows the human qualities that they have shown today without me telling them absolutely nothing.’
‘It will probably change everything. I think Usain Bolt once said, “I have to train four years to run nine seconds”. And sometimes you have to do a lot and you don’t see that. I’m sure what he has been through in the last few weeks, this moment is worth every moment (so far).’ —DailyMail
