Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly, making his first Champions League start, impressed to give Mikel Arteta another selection puzzle to solve amid fans’ natural excitement
It took four minutes for Myles Lewis-Skelly to earn his first roar of approval from the home crowd.
And it would not be the last for the youngest Arsenal player, at 18 years and 76 days, to start a Champions League match since Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2011.
Lewis-Skelly had climbed high to meet Maghnes Akliouche in the air and came off best, setting the tone for a performance that will only increase calls for him to be given more and more chances to shine.
A measured pass to Gabriel Jesus in the lead up to Bukayo Saka ’s opening goal was the obvious highlight of his 63 minutes on the grand stage.
But as a whole this was, in the pre-match words of Mikel Arteta, a “fearless” showing from a youngster who has “a presence on the pitch.”
Before Saka’s goal, he had already played a smart through ball to Gabriel Jesus that ended with Martin Odegaard curling wide and Lews-Skelly looked as comfortable tucking into midfield as he did at left back.
The movement that led to him feeding Jesus, who then crossed to Saka, displayed an impressive combination of strength and composure. And the sight of several team-mates rushing to congratulate him before they ran to Saka summed up the impact.
He could do the dirty work, too – a foul to stop Vanderson from counterattacking showed quick thinking and there was a brief moment when he squared up to Akliouche that further signified his fearlessness.
Arteta’s reluctance to give the next crop meaningful minutes has been a hot topic among Arsenal fans for quite some time. A year ago today he kept four academy graduates on the bench for the duration of a dead rubber at PSV Eindhoven.
And the clamour for Ethan Nwaneri, 17, to be given a first league or Champions League start after impressing off the bench has been met by Arteta stressing the risks of too much too soon.
Yet last night, prompted by injuries and a distrust of Kieran Tierney, represented a departure from the norm. Lewis-Skelly may have had cameos in the league but to start on a moderately big European night was another level.
He unquestionably repaid the faith.
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