As Arsenal welcomed PSV Eindhoven to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening, there was a real fear that this would be a non-event.
A week ago, Mikel Arteta’s men secured perhaps the best victory of his managerial career to date, winning 7-1 in the Netherlands.
So, with the Gunners’ passage through the last eight all but confirmed, it meant that a number of tickets went unsold. It also meant that Arteta was able to ring the changes in North London.
He did so to mixed effect. Arsenal could only draw 2-2 with PSV, made to bemoan some lax defending from stand-in defender Jakub Kiwior and a lack of fitness from Ben White.
That said, despite a pretty unexciting clash in Europe, there were some positives for the coaching staff to take away.
The biggest positives from Arsenal's draw with PSV
The hard work had already been done last week. There was no real need to try this time around.
However, to the squad’s credit, they kept their motivation levels high on Wednesday evening. The best player on the park was, rather incredibly, Raheem Sterling.
The Premier League icon has had a troublesome campaign at Arsenal, moving on loan from Chelsea last summer. Since then, he’s only scored once, but this was perhaps his finest outing in the famous red and white.
Sterling did not score, he should have, notably in the first half. Sent clean through on goal, he was denied by Walter Benitez in the PSV net.
That said, he did come up with assists for both goals, setting up Oleksandr Zinchenko – another stand-out figure on the night – for his rasping drive.
Truth be told, the loanee did not do much for that goal but he certainly did for Declan Rice’s header. So often fans have bemoaned the England star’s poor decision-making this term but there was nothing poor about the second assist.
He stretched the visitors’ defence, ran beyond his marker and got to the byline before pulling the ball back on a plate for Rice to find the net.
As a result, he was handed the official Player of the Match award by UEFA. Zinchenko certainly deserved to be in with a shout of winning it too.
So often ignored by Arteta in a midfield role, it was in Martin Odegaard’s position that the Ukrainian shone in midweek, standing in for the Arsenal skipper and staking his claim for more minutes.
So, it was a good night for Arsenal’s experienced players, but was it a good night for the younger lads? Myles Lewis-Skelly deserves another shoutout.
Myles Lewis-Skelly's performance in numbers
The 18-year-old’s Arsenal career has already been a total rollercoaster. From scoring against Manchester City and famously copying Erling Haaland’s celebration to red cards against Wolves and West Ham, the teen still has much to learn.
Ill-disciplined yes, but this is a player when you remove red cards from the equation, has looked like he’s been playing at the top level for years, not just a few months.
As a consequence, it would not be a surprise to see him named in Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad on Friday.
Bursting onto the scene this campaign, Lewis-Skelly has been nothing short of a sensation and deserves just as much praise as fellow Hale Ender, Ethan Nwaneri.
He’s cool in possession, immense at evading the press and can play brilliant passes between the lines. We saw all of that in the second leg against PSV, first at left-back and then in central midfield when Riccarco Calafiori replaced Rice.
There were two notable moments, one when he struck the post and then the piece of play above, linking up brilliantly with Calafiori on the edge of the box.
Performance in Numbers
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Lewis-Skelly is a midfielder by trade and it would not be a surprise to see his future in that role. Speaking of the youngster’s future, he could well be a future skipper in the making.
Speaking this week, Jack Wilshere – a player of a similar mould – noted that “Myles is very team-oriented, he’s more of a natural leader and wants to bring everyone with him.”
Minutes played
90
Touches
39
Accurate passes
29/21 (94%)
Key passes
1
Big chances created
1
Possession lost
3x
Duels won
3/3
Shots
1
Successful dribbles
1/1
TNT Sports commentator Adam Somerton also picked up on that attribute during the game, suggesting that he could be “Arsenal’s captain of the future”. Fine praise indeed.
He certainly led by example on the pitch as the Gunners cruised through to the next round, notably winning every single duel and completing 94% of his passes, subsequently earning a 7/10 match rating courtesy of GOAL.
Is there anything this boy cannot do? It seems not. Arsenal have found a superstar in the making and he’s one of their very own.
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