Jurrien Timber marked a dream return from injury by scoring a stunning goal on his first appearance in eight months. The Dutch defender joined Arsenal in the summer in a £38m move from Ajax but sustained a serious knee injury on his Premier League debut and has been sidelined ever since.
After undergoing intense rehabilitation, Timber has returned to training with Arsenal and stepped up his recovery with an appearance for the Gunners’ under-21 side against Blackburn. Just eight minutes in, the defender was on the scoresheet. He picked up the ball on the left flank, turned inside his defender, and found the top corner with a brilliant right-footed effort that curled beyond the grasp of the goalkeeper.
Timber almost doubled his evening’s work with another powerful effort from distance but the ball flew just wide of goal, before the Dutchman was then taken off at half-time. Mikel Arteta has given a couple of updates on Timber’s fitness. Asked if the defender could be involved against Tottenham this weekend, he replied: “That’s a quick step. Let’s see how he feels today. He has been training really good, he looks ready. Ne needs that exposure and after that we will assess whether that game comes at the right time or too fast. We will try to get him with us for the final games.”
