Joshua Zirkzee and Sven Botman react as Arsenal star Jurrien Timber scores on return to action
Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber returned to action for the first time in eight months yesterday during the Premier League 2 match between Blackburn Rovers under-21s and their Gunners counterpart at Ewood Park, featuring in the first-half and capping his performance with a wonderful strike.
The Netherlands international sustained an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury on the opening day of the campaign against Nottingham Forest and his recovery has been progressing well since he underwent surgery and returned to training.
While Timber will play no part in the London derby against Chelsea tonight and the North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, he is expected to return to action very soon and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta cannot wait to finally start counting on him.
His goal yesterday underlined one of the reasons the Gunners signed the 22-year-old from Ajax last summer, and his fellow Dutchmen Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee – who Arsenal reportedly like a lot ahead of a potential transfer swoop – and Newcastle United star Sven Botman took to Instagram to react to his return.
The North Londoners have not lacked quality options at both right-back and left-back this term, but being without Timber has denied Arteta the chance to be unpredictable with his defensive line-up, and his imminent return is a huge boost.
Arsenal are still very much in the title race despite their recent defeat to Aston Villa, and being able to call upon the versatile defender for the last three games of the campaign could make a huge difference as the Emirates Stadium club look to win the Premier League for the first time since 2004.
