Mikel Arteta praises ‘very impressive’ Ethan Nwaneri after full Premier League debut vs Brentford
Arsenal continued their impressive form with a fourth straight win in all competitions.
The Gunners went behind after just 13 minutes against Brentford in the Premier League yesterday, but they showed their title credentials with a superb response.
The club ended up with a comfortable 3-1 victory. They had a resounding lead in the 53rd minute, and it never looked like the Bees would get back into the game.
Speaking after the 3-1 victory, manager Mikel Arteta was pleased with the performance of Ethan Nwaneri, who made his full Premier League debut against the Bees on the road.
The 17-year-old did not look overawed by the occasion and provided quality crosses in the lead-up to the goals scored by Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli in the second half.
Arteta said the teenager was ‘very impressive’ as he was ‘really composed’ and ‘taking risks’.
He told Arsenal.com: “The game became very difficult from yesterday because, again, we lost some players and had certain issues around the camp. We had to deal with that, we made some changes.
“Ethan [Nwaneri] making his Premier League debut, anyone that you put there, [they had the] right attitude, right level of performance and that sustains the level of the team.
“Ethan’s played here before, so that’s a nice story, to get back to this one, I think he was really composed, really determined, taking risks, taking initiative. Very impressive.”
Nwaneri had a superb passing accuracy of 92 percent from the left wing yesterday. He won two dribbles and delivered two quality crosses into the box for the Gunners.
The youngster also made two recoveries and won two duels. He had a slow start in the derby but improved his performance, particularly in the second half.
The club graduate received a 7/10 rating from football.london. Nwaneri has shown that he has plenty of maturity at his age and needs to stay consistent in the future.
With Bukayo Saka’s lengthy injury absence, Nwaneri can secure a regular starting position on the left wing if he continues to make direct or indirect goal contributions.
Stats from Fotmob.com
