On Thursday night, Mohamed Elneny scored his first goal at the Emirates and needless to say the 25-year-old was thrilled.
Elneny netted Arsenal’s sixth goal against BATE Borisov in the Europa League on Thursday night and described the feeling as ‘wonderful’ on social media after the victory.
“Wonderful feeling first goal in the Emirates,” Elneny said.
“Great fans[.] You always give us motivation[.] Thanks for everything.”
wonderful feeling first goal in the Emirates .. great fans You always give us motivation Thanks for everything pic.twitter.com/82f8YCorFC
— Mohamed ELNeny (@ElNennyM) December 8, 2017
Since Elneny signed for Arsenal from FC Basel last year, he’s found the back of the net twice. Once in the Champions League against Barcelona and another versus BATE.
The 25-year-old obviously likes scoring in Europe.
The midfielder had a solid match overall against BATE. He hit the crossbar during the first half and had three shots in total. He also completed an impressive 96% of his passes – the second most on the pitch after Eddie Nketiah, who only played for 15 minutes and attempted six.
As a defensive midfielder, who doubles up as a make-shift centre-back from time to time, Elneny doesn’t often get the chance to experience the glory of scoring goals for his team. Therefore, when Arsenal were 5-0 ahead against BATE, he must have seen his opportunity and just gone for it.
For his country, it’s a slightly different matter. Elneny has netted five goals and assisted six for Egypt in 59 appearances. He even scored his side’s only goal during their 2-1 defeat to Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations final this summer.