Thomas Partey has revealed his relief at finally opening his goalscoring account for Arsenal against Aston Villa on Friday night.
Since arriving from Atletico Madrid last summer, the Ghanaian midfielder was yet to get on an Arsenal scoresheet despite having found the net for his country on a regular basis.
It wasn’t for want of trying though, with Partey regularly trying his luck from range but to no avail.
He did eventually find the net in Arsenal’s 3-1 victory against Aston Villa though, from somewhat of a shorter difference by nodding in Emile Smith Rowe’s corner.
The strike ended a run of 39 appearances for the club without managing to find the net and Partey himself was delighted to finally be an Arsenal goalscorer and to claim victory.
Talking to The Mirror after the game, he said: “The team knew what to do we had to keep fighting and keep our intensity. At the end with the quality we have we are able to get results.
"All the team was frustrated and we wanted a win. That was the mentality we brought to this game today and we were able to get our result.
"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. I think it was the right moment to have it and I'm very happy.
"The team performed very good. We have to do this every weekend and every game and with this we can achieve beautiful things.
"They deserve it. they have been supporting us when we have been down and when things have gone bad. This win is for them and I hope they enjoy it.”
Many will certainly be relieved to see Partey finally break his Gunners duck - none least Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
The Spaniard recently revealed he had been working with the midfielder to get into the right areas to score a goal - instructions that the 28-year-old finally appears to have heeded with his close range finish against Villa.
Speaking earlier this week, he said: “It’s something that we are obviously practicing with him to determine and to decide the areas where we are more likely to score a goal and when we don’t.
“He has the capacity to do that because he’s done it throughout his career and he is trying and he needs to keep trying, but in the right areas.”
