Emile Smith Rowe had to be consoled by his Arsenal team-mate Oleksandr Zinchenko after the Gunners’ win over Bournemouth.
Kai Havertz scored his first Arsenal goal as the north Londoners eased past winless Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.
The German international, who has struggled since arriving from Bournemouth in the summer, converted a second-half penalty to ensure a third consecutive victory on the road for the Gunners.
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Elsewhere Bukayo Saka opened the scoring and Martin Odegaard netted a penalty of his own while Ben White nodded home for Arsenal in added time to add gloss to a comprehensive victory.
The result sees Bournemouth drop into the bottom three, having not claimed a win from their opening seven Premier League games, while Arsenal continue to pile the pressure on title rivals Manchester City, who fell to a 2-1 defeat at Wolves.
But despite the positive result, Smith Rowe was clearly upset as he left the pitch.
The Hale End academy graduate was handed his first start in 499 days earlier this week for Arsenal’s win over Brentford in the Carabao Cup.
And against Bournemouth, the 23-year-old came on as a late substitute and squandered a chance to make it five for Arsenal in injury time.
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After the game, Smith Rowe was visibly disappointed with his failure to convert and needed to be consoled by Oleksandr Zinchenko and Arsenal’s assistant coach Albert Stuivenberg. You can check it out in the above video, courtesy of now.arsenal clips.
Speaking this week, Smith Rowe said he needed to change his mentality to secure a starting role in Mikel Arteta’s side.
“Being at a massive club like Arsenal, we know there is so much competition,” said Smith Rowe, via the Metro.
“It is always going to be challenging, it is always going to be difficult to cement your place in the team. I have just got to keep believing in myself.
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“Coming back and not quite getting back into the team, I have had to stay strong in my head and try to stay as positive as I can.
“I think the gaffer has really helped me with that. He was helping me through my injury and often pulled me for chats about how I can be mentally stronger, stuff like that.”
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Topics: Football, Emile Smith-Rowe, Arsenal, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Bournemouth