Arsenal climbed back to the top of the Premier League yesterday after a narrow 1-0 win over Newcastle. The Gunners had a tough time up at St James’ Park but returned to the capital with all three points, and there was one man who was vital to that, and that was Mathieu Flamini.
The Frenchman knew that he had to do a job in the middle of the pitch in order for Arsenal to have a chance of earning any points, and he played out his role brilliantly.
Sitting just in front of the Arsenal backline, Flamini cleverly picked apart anything that Newcastle tried to do while installing a sense of composure into his team-mates.
He made six clearances, three interceptions and won his only headed duel in the game, an aerial tussle with Moussa Sissoko, and won two tackles.
He is a player who always has his mind in the game and proved again how intelligent he is without the ball. His positioning was second to none and more than a few times he was the man who recycled possession.
He was good on the ball, too. Flamini attempted 54 passes during the tie, 51 of which met their target, giving him a success rate of 94%.
The importance of Flamini has been well documented this season, and he showed why yesterday afternoon.