Mikel Merino’s goal for Arsenal in their 2-1 win over Fulham is said to have broken a Premier League record that had previously stood since August 2014.
Arsenal closed the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to nine points on Tuesday night as Bukayo Saka made a dream cameo on his long-awaited return from injury.
The 23-year-old, who has been out for 101 days after having surgery on his hamstring, scored just seven minutes after replacing Ethan Nwaneri to give Mikel Arteta‘s side a two-goal advantage.
Saka’s return grabbed the headlines, but many overlooked the 50 consecutive passes that lead to Mikel Merino’s first-half opener at the Emirates.
In fact, the build-up that led to Merino’s effort was the highest number of passes made before a goal in the Premier League since such data was gathered from the 2006/07 season onwards.
As noted by the Premier League‘s official website, the previous record was recorded during a clash between Spurs and QPR in August 2014, when Nacer Chadli’s second goal in Tottenham’s 4-0 win featured a total of 48 passes.
Reddit user relaxit posted about the stat after Arsenal‘s opener on Tuesday night.
They wrote: “Felt it was an insanely long passing sequence that led to Arsenal’s goal so had to go back and count – starting from when Timber wins the ball back at 33:35 we completed 50 passes until Merino scored at 36:55, if I got the count right?”
Here’s how fans on social media reacted to Merino’s goal against Fulham.
One said: “That’s ridiculous,” while another wrote: “I noticed it felt like forever. We decided against at least three forward passes in the buildup and I was thinking ‘man we’re just going side to side’ before Partey slid that through.”
A third commented: “We are always trying to walk it in,” and a fourth added: “Not gonna lie. I want direct football.”
Merino has scored six Premier League goals this season. Image credit: Getty
Speaking after the full-time whistle, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was full of praise for Merino, who has impressed since being deployed as a number nine.
“It’s good he has that capacity to score goals, to sense the danger and to move in the right moments into the right spaces,” said Arteta.
“Today was a different goal but then you ask him to play as a nine and he does it perfectly and understands the timing, the position, the role. So good. It’s a joy to have players like this.”
“I thought Ethan had some really good moments,” he added. “Martinelli was superb as well. You see how much we missed him, that threat, that attacking purpose that he has every time he’s on the ball. Some good performances.”
