While scorers Leandro Trossard, Ben White and Kai Havertz received a lot of praise, the efforts of defensive midfielder Partey were also highlighted.
The 30-year-old has missed almost the entire season due to injury, this is only his second start in eight months. There were some concerns that it might be too risky to let the Ghana international return immediately for this very important match, but those concerns quickly dissipated.
Thomas Partey truly rewarded coach Mikel Arteta’s trust on the day he was named in the starting lineup.
In 72 minutes on the field, the “beast” Ghana overwhelmed the central midfield duo Enzo Fernandez – Moises Caicedo on “The Blues”. The heat map provided by Sofascore shows that Partey regularly appears in hot spots, effectively sweeping the midfield with 3 interceptions and strong dispute situations.
Mikel Arteta praised Thomas Partey for ‘stepping up’ in Arsenal’s surprising 5-0 defeat of Chelsea, thereby continuing to steadily compete for the Premier League title.
Asked about Thomas Partey’s performance in his first start this year, Mikel Arteta: “I don’t know, but then we would have won every game.
“Because look at the run we are in, the amount of points we have already and we have missed Thomas, that’s true, since August and he’s a big player for us.
“But as well that has given the chance to all the players, to Declan to play as a six, to rediscover Declan as an eight, playing Kai as a nine, the contribution of Jorgi, he has been absolutely phenomenal as well.
“And the team has resources, and it has to find different ways of winning and acting and interchanging the qualities. I’m really happy.
“We thought it was a really good game for Partey to come back, he looks like he is in rhythm, he trained really well the last few days, the way that they set-up, the players that they have in and the way they attack especially.
“We believe it was the right call to make. He stepped up and had a great performance and was really important for the team.”
Partey impressed as Arsenal thrashed Chelsea 5-0 on Tuesday.