A much-changed Arsenal side maintained their unbeaten record in the Europa League on Thursday evening when they eased to a 3-0 win against Ukraine’s Vorskla.
Amid freezing conditions and a change of venue because of a declaration of martial law, Unai Emery’s second-string Gunners performed with minimal fuss. Central to this Group E-victory – that also assured top spot – was 18-year-old left winger Emile Smith Rowe.
Here, we analyse the performance of the emerging starlet at Kiev’s Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex:
STATISTICS
Goals – 1
Assists – 0
Shots – 2
Shots on target – 2
Touches – 68
Passes – 48
Key passes – 2
Dribbles – 1
Dispossessed – 3
30-SECOND REPORT
With qualification to the knockouts already earned and a North London derby coming up on Sunday against Tottenham, Emery unleashed the kids, yet again, in the Europa League.
Among the Spaniard’s 10 alterations to the side that defeated Bournemouth 2-1 in the Premier League, Smith Rowe was the standout.
He calmly prodded into an open goal for the opener and then played in Aaron Ramsey for a penalty that the contract rebel converted himself. Youngster Joe Willock then stroked into the bottom corner to break his Arsenal duck and make it 3-0 by 41 minutes.
After that, the visitors went through the motions at Kiev’s Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex against now-eliminated opponents.
Smith Rowe would be denied a second by the linesman’s flag after Mohamed Elneny was adjudged to have been offside prior to the former mentioned’s half-volley into the roof of the net from veteran right-back Stephan Lichsteiner’s centre.
GOT RIGHT
Taking his chance – Within a team thrown together by Emery, Smith Rowe was quick to grasp responsibility.
Adroitly meandered around the pitch from his nominal left-wing berth, regularly getting involved in key plays. Even when tightly marked and with a frustrated Vorskla getting physical, trusted his technique to get him out of tight spots.
His two key passes was the joint-second most for Arsenal, plus his two attempts on goal were the joint-third most.
Has been an unused substitute three times in the Premier League. Surely did enough to prove he deserves to make his debut in that competition when the hectic festive fixture list kicks in next month.
GOT WRONG
Loose moments – If you were being hypercritical, there were one or two loose headers or passes that killed potential counter-attacks.
Was dispossessed three times – the joint most for the Gunners alongside Willock. Also, the latter was the only visiting outfield starter to register a pass accuracy (77.8 per cent) that was worse than his (79.2 per cent).
Greater first-team exposure will, surely, iron out these kinks. Plus, it is not like more-experienced challengers in Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi aren’t immune to sloppy pieces of play.
KEY MOMENTS
11th min GOAL: Was alert to potential opportunity, predicting Arthur’s unlucky deflection and effortlessly finding the back of the net for a second Europa League goal in four appearances.
26th min CHANCE: Drove into the penalty box and centered to Ramsey, who would be fouled for a penalty-kick.
33rd min CHANCE: This was a moment of genius from Smith Rowe. Within a pocket of space in the centre, he looked up and flicked a ball over the top to striker Eddie Nketiah. His fellow teenager’s loose finish was less convincing, however.
65th min DISALLOWED GOAL: Appeared to be the beneficiary of some perplexing Vorskla defending, only for his effort to be ruled out because of Elneny’s earlier offside.
VERDICT
Emery described an emerging talent with “lots of potential” when a, reported, five-year contract was inked by Smith Rowe in June.
The Spaniard has taken a conservative approach to the Croydon-born player’s development, reserving him for League Cup and Europa League-duty. In those tournaments, his record now stands at an impressive three goals from six appearances.
Decisive nights like this one mean a Premier League bow is just a matter of time.
RATING: 8/10
All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com
