Brentford, Jan 2 Arsenal manager Milel Arteta hailed the impact of the 17-year-old winger Ethan Nwaneri, who made his full Premier League debut in Arsenal's come from behind 3-1 win over Brentford at Gtech Community Stadium.
Nwaneri marked his first league start, back at the venue where he became the Gunners youngest-ever player as a substitute in 2022.
On Wednesday night the Arsenal academy graduate was in action again at the Gtech Community Stadium, making his first full Premier League start for the Gunners.
The 17-year-old winger's performance justified Arteta's decision to hand Nwaneri his chance in the absence of Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz.
"That position wasn’t because of a bug; that was a decision we made because I thought he was the best player to play in the position to start the game and because there was a story there, with his debut here," said Arteta.
"He made his Premier League debut, and sometimes that feeling comes in and you feel it’s the right one and who knows. He was really good. In training he gives us all the right reasons to play. We could've signed a player from any country; he would be playing.
"We’re building him; he’s already played a lot of games a lot of minutes for the age that he’s got, and he fully deserves that," he said.
Goals from Jesus, Merino and Martinelli give the Gunners a win over Brentford, who have won seven of their nine home games in the league this season.
"We won in a difficult stadium, against a good opponent. The record they have here is incredible, and when you go 1-0 down it makes it even harder. We have to navigate through some difficult moments. We started really fast and aggressive and again adapting. We had some injuries and sickness," Arteta said about the result.
Wednesday’s triumph sees Arsenal leapfrog Nottingham Forest in the table to move six points behind leaders Liverpool, while Brentford - who have now gone four top-flight matches without a win - remain in 12th place.
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