Mikel Arteta described Arsenal's 18-year-old full-back Myles Lewis-Skelly as a “pleasure to watch” after he impressed in their comprehensive 3-0 Champions League victory over Monaco.
At the age of 18 years and 76 days, Lewis-Skelly became the youngest player to start a Champions League match for Arsenal since Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain against Olympiacos in 2011 (18 years, 44 days).
His inclusion was due to injuries that kept out Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu, while Jakub Kiwior had to replace the centre-back and Jurrien Timber was limited to a place on the bench.
However, he made the most of his opportunity, completing 45 of his 47 passing attempts (96%).
That gave him the highest passing accuracy of an Arsenal teenager in a Champions League match (minimum 25 passes) since Johan Djourou against Hamburg in September 2006 (97%) – the month Lewis-Skelly was born.
“A very proud moment,” Arteta said of Lewis-Skelly's display. “He's one of us and he's a joy to watch. It's great that we can trust him to play in this environment.”
On Arsenal's overall performance, he added: “In the first half we should have finished the game but we didn't.
“In the Champions League you will have difficult moments and we suffered from that. Then the game was under control with the second goal.”
Arsenal are third in the 36-team Champions League table with two group stage matches remaining before facing Dinamo Zagreb and Girona next month.
Monaco, meanwhile, are 16th with 10 points after consecutive defeats in the Champions League.
“First of all, a deserved victory for Arsenal. Too many gifts from our side, that is not acceptable at this level,” said visiting coach Adi Hutter.
“I was satisfied with the first twenty minutes and up to the second goal. The second half was very brave, but in the end there were too many big mistakes.”
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