(Reuters) – Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hailed 17-year-old attacking midfielder Ethan Nwaneri for a “very impressive” performance in his first Premier League start for the north London side as they came from behind to beat Brentford 3-1 on Wednesday.
Nwaneri, who joined Arsenal at the age of eight, became the third-youngest player to start a top-flight game for the club after former Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas and forward Theo Walcott.
With injuries to key players such as Bukayo Saka, Arteta said he was happy his team had stepped up.
“The game became very difficult from yesterday because, again, we lost some players and had certain issues around the camp,” Arteta was quoted as saying on the club’s website.
“We had to deal with that, we made some changes, Ethan 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.”
The away win at Gtech Community Stadium was even more special for Nwaneri because it was where he came on as a substitute for Arsenal in 2022, making him the youngest player in Premier League history.
“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,” Arteta added.
The win lifted Arsenal back into second place in the table with 39 points from 19 matches, six behind leaders Liverpool who have a game in hand.
“We’ve been through a lot and the team had to deal with a lot of circumstances, probably that we never expected and they’re still performing at the highest level, very consistently,” Arteta said.
“We want to be better, we could’ve been better, especially just with small margins but I think the team is in the right path.”
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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