Mikel Arteta says Arsenal star wasn’t entirely ‘effective’ vs Brighton but he was still ‘brilliant’

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was asked to specifically comment on one player’s performance against Brighton.

The Gunners are in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup after beating Brighton 2-0 at the Emirates.

Mikel Arteta was able to almost entirely rotate his starting XI and still maintain Arsenal’s remarkable clean sheet record in October.

Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri got themselves on the scoresheet to book Arsenal’s spot in the final eight, with the latter finally given the chance to express himself.

• READ MORE: What Gabriel Magalhaes did in the 95th minute vs Brighton says everything about Arsenal right now

Mikel Arteta’s thoughts on Ethan Nwaneri’s performance against Brighton

It’s been a really tough start to the season for Nwaneri, whose game time has reduced since last term.

Such was to be expected as Arsenal’s squad depth improved, but Nwaneri is still firmly in Arteta’s plans, as Wednesday night’s contest showed.

The 18-year-old was given the chance to impress in his favoured attacking midfield role, with Arteta liking what he saw from the teenager.

“Really good,” Arteta said of Nwaneri in his post-match press conference.

While the Arsenal manager made it clear he was impressed, what Arteta liked the most about his display were the things he didn’t do so well. 

“He had some actions, some of them, they weren’t that effective, but what I liked is that he kept trying and taking risks, and he didn’t change that behaviour and determination to make things happen, and at the end, he got rewarded with a brilliant goal.”

It was truthful and high praise from the boss, who loved the youngster’s perseverance to right his wrongs, be them very minor, during the contest.

Nwaneri’s statistics against Brighton

Nwaneri’s goal confirmed that Arsenal had done something for the first time in 15 years, as for the first time since 2010, two English teenagers combined for a goal.

Myles Lewis-Skelly assisted his lifelong friend to open the scoring, and what a feeling that must’ve been. 

Nwaneri’s performance, however, wasn’t all about putting the ball in the back of the net, as Arteta explained.

As the numbers show, there were many frustrating elements of Nwaneri’s performance, but they came together to see the academy graduate end the game with a goal.

The England U21 international didn’t stop pushing to make a difference, even when things weren’t going his way, which left an impression on Arteta.

Fortunately, it turned out to be a night to remember for Nwaneri, who netted his tenth goal for Arsenal.