After signing Pablo Mari from Flamengo in January, the centre back defender debuted in the fifth round FA Cup win against Portsmouth.
Mikel Arteta is pleased with his decision after watching him play and believes that Mari was a great idea. Many fans and football pundits didn’t think that signing a player from South America, Brazil specifically, would do much good for Arsenal’s English side, a.k.a, the Premier League.
But Mari proved them wrong as he closed in on the defensive side and kept a tight control in the Portsmouth clash, leading to a 2-0 win, with goals by Sokratis and Eddie Nketiah. Their goals made Arsenal go into the last eight of the FA Cup teams – a first since the 2016/17 competition.
However, really, it was Mari’s performance that took the spotlight during the match. He was pitted against Portsmouth with David Luiz by his side, and sealed their spot in the quarter-finals, impressing Arteta.
“I think he looked comfortable,” Arteta said in an interview with the Arsenal website.
“He is very vocal and very comfortable on the ball, always commanding the back four and he looked like he’s played here for months. I think we have a good player.”
Mari will hope to continue making appearances in the upcoming games, now that his debut went very well!
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