Arteta lauds Nwaneri display in Arsenal's victory over Girona

Mikel Arteta heaped praise on Arsenal youngster Ethan Nwaneri as his goal against Girona helped Arsenal secure a spot in the last 16 of the Champions League. 

Arnaut Danjuma had given Girona a 28th minute lead before Jorginho restored parity from the penalty spot after Thomas Partey was fouled by Arnau Martinez. 

And the victory was sealed three minutes before the break when Nwaneri brilliantly cut inside from the right before sending a left-footed effort past Pau Lopez. 

At 17 years and 314 days-old, he became the second-youngest Englishman to score in a Champions League game after Jude Bellingham (17y 289d - Borussia Dortmund v Manchester City in April 2021. 

During the match, Nwaneri also had the joint-most shots (three, level with Raheem Sterling) for Arsenal, while the youngsters' nine crosses were the most for the Gunners. 

Nwaneri has impressed for Arsenal in the absence of Bukayo Saka, and Arteta lauded Nwaneri's display at the Estadi Montilivi on Wednesday. 

"That's what we love about him, he's willing to take the initiative to make things happen," Arteta told reporters.

"He's very aggressive when he's got the ball and so confident, because before that he had another action, a very similar one, he made the right choice, he went for it.

"He has the capacity to finish from every angle basically, and it was a very important goal.

"It's very natural for him, you can see the way he takes the touches, how he beats people and then the technique he's got, he's so precise in his finishing, put him a lot of times in that situation and the outcome will be good."

The result saw Arsenal finish third in the Champions League table, meaning a potential tie with either Juventus, Feyenoord, PSV or AC Milan in the last 16 awaits. 

In fact, Arsenal have now progressed from the group stage / league phase in each of their last 16 seasons in the Champions League, last failing to reach the knockout rounds (when appearing in the competition) in 2002-03.

But Arteta had to do so without first-choice goalkeeper David Raya in his ranks, with the Spaniard not included in the squad for their win over Girona. 

Instead, Brazilian Neto made his debut for the Gunners, and could deputise this weekend for their huge clash against Manchester City in the Premier League. 

"He (Raya) certainly could not play, he's injured and that's it. Let's see how it goes," Arteta said.