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John Fleck struck a late equalizer as Sheffield United came from behind to seal a Premier League point against a frustrated Arsenal.<\/p>\nJohn Fleck struck a late equalizer as Sheffield United came from behind to seal a Premier League point against a frustrated Arsenal.<\/p>\n
Gabriel Martinelli\u2019s ninth goal in 10 Arsenal starts appeared to have the Gunners on course for a win but Fleck struck with seven minutes remaining to secure a 1-1 draw for the visitors.<\/p>\n
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta was without captain and top goalscorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who watched from the stands as his replacement Martinelli scored at the end of a quiet first half.<\/p>\n
He even tweeted that he saw Martinelli, 18, as a future \u201csuperstar\u201d as the Brazilian and Bukayao Saka \u2013 three months his junior and playing out of position at left-back \u2013 were Arsenal\u2019s best players.<\/p>\n
But, as they have struggled to do for some time, the hosts could not see out the contest and had to settle for a share of the spoils which sees them ninth in the table and four points adrift of the Blades.<\/p>\n
It was a nervy start at the back for Arsenal, with recalled Shkodran Mustafi losing possession on the touchline and Lys Mousset sending a good headed chance wide.<\/p>\n
Arteta\u2019s side were almost playing on the counter-attack in the opening exchanges, relying on the pace of Nicolas P\u00e9p\u00e9 and Martinelli to get them in behind \u2013 the pair combining for the latter to shoot off-target.<\/p>\n
Martinelli then fired wide having been slipped in by P\u00e9p\u00e9 once more as the Gunners looked to show they could cope with losing their go-to goalscorer.<\/p>\n
It would be Martinelli, the only man close to Aubameyang\u2019s numbers so far this season, who opened the scoring in the final minute of the first-half.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old drifted into the middle unmarked to turn Saka\u2019s deflected shot in from close range.<\/p>\n
The visitors were almost gifted an equalizer 10 minutes after the interval, Bernd Leno getting nowhere near a corner and Granit Xhaka having to hack Billy Sharp\u2019s effort off the line \u2013 with Sheffield United\u2019s players bellowing for handball against the midfielder.<\/p>\n
A VAR check cleared Xhaka but Chris Wilder\u2019s side began forcing the issue in the search for an equalizer.<\/p>\n
The video referee then sided with on-field official Mike Dean \u2013 taking charge of his 500th Premier League game \u2013 and did not award a penalty to Arsenal even though P\u00e9p\u00e9 appeared to be tripped.<\/p>\n
Arsenal were struggling to create openings to secure the points and were lucky to see an unmarked Oli McBurnie head straight at Leno with 10 minutes remaining.<\/p>\n
But their luck ran out soon after as Sharp flicked a Callum Robinson cross into the path of Fleck, whose shot into the ground flashed into the corner of Leno\u2019s net.<\/p>\n
Mustafi\u2019s late header could not test Dean Henderson in the United goal as the game ended in a draw.<\/p>\n