Thomas Partey started for Ghana in a friendly vs Qatar in Turkey on Monday evening. The Arsenal midfielder provided two assists, helping the Black Stars seal an emphatic 5-1 victory.
We have watched these goals created by Thomas and can say he had a defining role in both.
Here is how his first assist happened:
Partey intercepts the ball after a Qatar defender heads it away from the penalty box.
Thomas sends the ball forward. We don't know if it was a shot or a through ball.
No matter what his intention was, the ball finds Andre Ayew, who finishes the move.
Perhaps a bit of luck? Probably yes, but note Partey's clever positioning. He was in the right spot to recover the ball headed away by the opposition defender.
And the second assist leaves no doubts about Thomas' quality. It had me having Cesc Fabregas flashbacks.
Partey receives the ball to the right of the centre circle.
He notices that Samuel Owusu starts a run on the right and clips the ball over the Qatari full-back.
Owusu has only the goalkeeper to beat.
It was an amazing ball from Partey. He saw his teammate's run and sent the ball into the centre-right channel, making it impossible for the opposition defenders to intercept it.
And while Qatar are certainly not world-beaters, these two goals inspire hope that Partey will help solve Arsenal's creativity problem — either by moving Dani Ceballos into a more advanced role, or by using Thomas as a playmaker.
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