Marquinhos shines as Arsenal seal 2-1 win vs Zurich

Marquinhos was undoubtedly the man of the match on Thursday as Arsenal secured a 2-1 victory over FC Zurich in their Europa League opener.

The 19-year-old was signed from Sao Paulo earlier this summer and featured plenty of times in pre-season. However, he had to wait until yesterday for his debut.

The Brazilian made an instant impression in the 16th minute. Marquinhos scored his maiden club goal on the counter-attack, placing the ball into the top left corner of the net with his weaker right foot.

Zurich managed to level the proceedings before the break from a penalty conceded by Eddie Nketiah, but it only took until the hour mark for Arsenal to lead again.

Nketiah redeemed himself with a header to beat the goalkeeper at his near post. Marquinhos was the catalyst for the goal with a peach of cross from the right flank.

Prior to yesterday, Marquinhos had caught the eye with his performances for the development side and he certainly had no jitters in his maiden senior appearance.

In his 69 minutes on the field, the youngster completed an impressive 86 per cent of his passes while winning two interceptions and two ground duels.

He created two big chances alongside four key passes. It was certainly a memorable debut for him, and he could not control his emotions after his debut Arsenal goal.

Arsenal dominated the proceedings against the reigning Swiss champions and the margin of victory does not justify the control that they had in the game.

Mikel Arteta, however, will be grateful that Marquinhos and Nketiah excelled on the night. The latter put the ball on the plate for Marquinho’s debut strike.

The victory has ensured that the Gunners occupy the top spot in Group A with three points, two ahead of PSV Eindhoven and Bodo/Glimt, who played out a 1-1 draw.

Stats from SofaScore.com and Transfermarkt.com