Journalist Sam Dean was seriously impressed by one Arsenal player in the second half of their clash with Porto on Tuesday evening.
Jakub Kiwior produced a defensive masterclass for Arsenal against Porto on Tuesday evening.
The Polish defender has been in impressive form in recent weeks whilst playing a left-back for the Gunners. Despite being a centre-back by trade, the former Spezia man was initially called upon to fill-in on the flank of the rearguard following injuries sustained by Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
In the past, when Mikel Arteta has called upon Kiwior to do a job for the north London club at left-back, the 24-year-old has struggled replicate the inverted interpretation of the role exemplified by Zinchenko. In order to better accommodate Kiwior in recent weeks, though, the Spanish coach has shaken things up tactically.
Right-back Ben White has been asked to take up the inverted role and drift in to the middle of the park. The England man has proven adept at this and has adapted to his new instructions seamlessly.
Meanwhile, Kiwior has been functioning as a more orthodox left-back and has caught the eye to such an extent that there have been calls for him to keep his place in the regular starting XI, even ahead of Zinchenko.
Jakub Kiwior hailed for performance against Porto
Kiwior was indeed given the nod against Porto on Tuesday evening, with the Ukrainian amongst the substitutes. In the second half especially, he was able to make some vital interventions. As the Portuguese outfit posed a real threat on the counter-attack, the defender was often isolated in one-on-one situations, and each time he was able to see off the danger.
For all of his technical quality and creativity, Zinchenko has long been considered something of a defensive liability for Arsenal. Kiwior is a far more solid and reliable option at the back. When Arsenal were on the hunt for a winner in the second half, Arteta may have been tempted to bring on the former Manchester City man to add some extra guile and craft to his team. However, he ultimately opted to stick with Kiwior for the full the ninety minutes and throughout the first half of extra time.
Reporting on X during the second half, Sam Dean shared his verdict on why Arteta was taking this approach. He said, “there must be a temptation to bring on Zinchenko to add some control here. But Kiwior has defended like a monster in this second half. Tricky one.”