Arsene Wenger pronounced himself impressed with the "promising" Premier League debut of Arsenal youngster Joe Willock in the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle.
After Reiss Nelson made his first Premier League start in last week’s 3-2 win over Southampton, Willock became the latest Hale End youth academy graduate to make the step up to Wenger’s first team as the manager saves many of his most important players for the Europa League.
The 18-year-old made his presence felt in attack but particularly in defence, where his four tackles were the joint most of any Arsenal player.
Though his most notable impact was skewing a shot wide when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was well-placed to finish, Wenger was largely impressed with how the raw youngster had equipped himself on his top flight bow.
“He played like a young boy,” Wenger said. “You see the talent and you also see the lack of experience in some situations of the game, but overall I believe it was promising.”
In Pictures | Newcastle vs Arsenal | 15/04/2018
Eddie Nketiah also got the opportunity to add to the seven minutes he got at Brighton in February, though yet again the 18-year-old striker was tasked with making a decisive impact as Arsenal unsuccessfully battled to avoid a fifth straight Premier League defeat away from home.
