Eddie Nketiah will not back down from the Arsenal challenge facing him after Gabriel Jesus scored off the bench in the 3-1 against Manchester United. Due to Jesus undergoing a minor knee operation, Nketiah has been given the nod in attack at the start of the season and duly repaid the faith shown by Mikel Arteta with two goals in four games.
Blanks over the weekend and against Crystal Palace may have followed games in which Nketiah scored, but in the victory over Palace he won the penalty which was converted by Martin Odegaard. A return after the international break was the expected outcome for Jesus, however he only came back off the bench in the final stages of Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Fulham.
After playing just one minute in the fixture, Jesus was introduced with 14 minutes to spare and made sure of the victory against Man United by scoring Arsenal's third deep into stoppage time. Following his first goal of the season, Jesus spoke to football.london about his ongoing battle for the striker spot with Nketiah which looks set to resume after the international break.
“First of all, competition is always good — for me and for him," he stated. «In all positions when you have competition it's a good thing. From day one, I'm a big fan of Eddie because of the way he works and the way he trains is amazing. It's not easy to come from the academy at a massive club and fight to play in the first team.
»Congrats to him, he's doing so well and he deserves to be called in the England national team. For me personally, it's good competition. It's always good for the club because for sure he's making me better and I'm making him better as well."
With Jesus referencing Nketiah's inclusion in Gareth Southgate's squad to face Ukraine and
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