Per Mertesacker has praised fellow defender Kieran Gibbs after he came on and scored against Spurs on Sunday.

Arsenal were 1-0 down and weren’t exactly looking as if we were going to score any time soon. Enter Gibbo, our full back who hasn’t scored in about 87 years.

However, having almost our entire defensive squad on the pitch allowed the defender to run forward, get in the box and score an equaliser.

I’m not sure who was more surprised: Gooners, Wenger, or Giroud, who had been getting free headers in the box all afternoon.

The captain hailed Gibbs’ energy after coming off the bench and highlighted the importance of having defenders who are able to score like that.

“It’s great energy from the bench and we need that throughout the season,” Per said.

“You could see what a great impact Kieran had when he came on onto the left side. He caused trouble and scored the goal. We’re happy about that.”

Indeed, it is quite exciting to have another attacking option while some of our main ones are out injured. However, we don’t want to be relying on him for too long. Hurry back Theo please.