Newcastle legend Alan Shearer ran out of superlatives to describe Ethan Nwaneri’s magnificent performance after Arsenal’s nervy 2-0 victory over Leicester, hailing the youngster as a ‘potential superstar’.
It took a dramatic late double from second-half substitute Mikel Merino for Arsenal to get over the line against the lowly Foxes, but it was Nwaneri who came away from the King Power Stadium with the man-of-the-match award.
The 17-year-old caused Leicester’s defence problems throughout, twice rattling the woodwork in the second period before assisting Merino’s 81st-minute header with an exquisite cross from the right.
Merino, introduced as a false nine in Kai Havertz’s absence, beat Mads Hermansen with an emphatic first-time finish to increase the deficit just six minutes later and the visitors held firm to move to within four points of Premier League leaders Liverpool.
It remains to be seen if Merino will be given the nod from the start for Arsenal’s next match with West Ham but Nwaneri appears a certainty to continue his run in Arteta’s XI at the Emirates.
Discussing Nwaneri’s eye-catching display on Match of the Day, ex-England striker Shearer gushed: ’17 years of age… a potential superstar. He was, without doubt, the bright spark for Arsenal.
‘Even when things weren’t going for them, which were large parts of the game, he was the one that was probing, he was the one putting crosses in and having pops at goal.
‘This [early Declan Rice chance] is almost identical to the cross that they score from. He [Nwaneri] just shifts the ball onto the left foot and he whips it in but Declan Rice can’t quite get on the end of it.
‘Again, he gets the ball and works it onto his left foot. This time he cuts inside and has a pop at goal but hits the crossbar.
‘But he can and does also like to down that right-hand side. If you show him too much room, if you invite him to go down there then that’s fine, he will do that as well.
‘He was the best player on the pitch today, so lively.’
Analysing Nwaneri’s assist for Merino, Shearer – the Premier League’s all-time top scorer – added: ‘This is what I said about him and the identical cross that we saw earlier.
‘Again, he just shifts it onto the left.
‘This time he whips it in and this time the substitution works for Arsenal, Merino comes on.
‘They’ve now got a threat in the middle [after replacing Raheem Sterling with Merino] which they didn’t really have. They shifted Trossard out onto the left-hand side and he did ever so well in getting the second goal.
‘Yes, they left it late but they won’t be bothered, Arsenal. It was about getting the three points.
‘Great ball in from Trossard and a fantastic finish from Merino. That made all the difference.
‘But the star of the show was 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri. What a performance. He looked so mature as well, nothing seemed to faze him at all.
‘Fantastic. Big, big win for Arsenal and he played a huge part in it.’
Joe Cole likened Nwaneri to the great Lionel Messi during TNT Sports’ commentary of the game, with fans, pundits and former players falling over themselves to praise the youngster.
‘What he’s showing… basically, that’s him,’ Arsenal head coach Arteta replied when asked for his reaction to Cole’s comments.
‘Obviously his age is always something that puts a question mark on how we have to deal with him.
‘But every time it’s, “Let me go, let me go, let me go!”, and when I player is givingyou all those signs you should not stop it.
‘You have to play with that freedom, with that creativity and that freedom that he’s playing at the minute and the players around him believe in him.’
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