If anyone has been keeping count, it’s been roughly 54 weeks since right-back Tariq Lamptey made his Premier League debut.
The circumstances were, in a word, peculiar.
At the Emirates Stadium, a London derby was unfolding. In the red corner, Arsenal, who were a goal ahead courtesy of a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 13th-minute opener from a corner. In the Blue, a Chelsea side that had been blown away for the opening half-hour, and who were in desperate need of some intervention from the bench.
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The first act of staunching the bleeding came in the form of a change of shape, effected by the introduction of midfield metronome Jorginho.