Having bagged seven goals in two games, Arsenal are making light work of their Europa League outings so far and remain at the top of Group H.
The Gunners saw off BATE Borisov 4-2 thanks to a Theo Walcott brace closely followed by Rob Holding’s first Arsenal goal and a memorable strike for Olivier Giroud.
Arsene Wenger stuck true to his word by using a starting XI that featured both youth and experience, as well as allowing Jack Wilshere to get another 90 minutes under his belt.
On the face of it a lot of the time I felt as if I was watching a pre-season game, but with four more goals and a positive result to talk about, I wasn’t moaning for long.
Just in case you were still getting back from work whilst Arsenal were kicking off at 6pm, here’s a few of the major talking points from an eventful night in Belarus:
1 – Youngsters Take Their Chance
We all know Wenger loves to roll the dice when it comes to the younger players in and around the club and in this game he was confident of playing his full hand.
With seven academy players on the bench making an average age of 19.1, it’s clear to see the boss wanted to hand an experience to the next generation of talent.
As well as Marcus McGuane and Eddie Nketiah making their competitive debut for the club, there were notable starting appearances for three of the very best youngsters.
Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles were all handed a place on the team-sheet following their impressive displays against Cologne and Doncaster.
That’s some highlights reel ?
“These are the touches you associate with Neymar!” ?
Jenas and Keown rave about young Reiss Nelson… pic.twitter.com/SxduOyqAAS
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) September 28, 2017
Willock played in beside Mohamed Elneny and surprised a few of us with his physical presence, as well as the ability to run at defenders, occasionally over-doing it.
Nelson was just being Nelson, causing havoc on the right side of midfield and improving on a position he’s not naturally comfortable with having played as more of a number 10.
Maitland-Niles was once again a consistent cog in the Gunners midfield and is starting to look like a natural replacement for Kieran Gibbs on the left-side of midfield.