Emile Smith Rowe was in fine form as he scored the winning goal in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Chelsea last night.
The Englishman broke into the team in the reverse of that fixture late last year and has remained a mainstay in the side.
Arsenal needed to be in fine form against a high-flying Chelsea team that Thomas Tuchel has turned into a results machine.
Both teams had chances with the Blues dominating the play, but Arsenal looked dangerous on the attack and Smith Rowe is one of the players that caused Chelsea problems all night.
His goal was helped by some poor play by the Blues, but it was a reward for his relentless pressing and being in the right place at the right time.
Jamie Redknapp was impressed by his performance in the game and singled the 20-year-old out for special praise.
He said the midfielder did well as he has done for much of this campaign since he broke into Arsenal’s first team.
‘I have to mention Smith-Rowe, he was excellent today, he was the best player on the pitch, he made things happen,’ insisted the former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder via Mail Sport.
‘Everything he did he did with a purpose. I thought he was exceptional and he has been like that all season since he’s gotten into the team.’
He is a gem of a player who could develop into a great attacking midfielder.I felt sorry for Saka last night.The experiment of playing a naturally left footed player as a right wing back was silly in my opinion, especially when we had no fewer than 3 players on the bench who would have been far more comfortable in that role.Another error of judgement by Arteta who will hopefully learn from this mistake.Saka is a very talented natural left winger and that is where he ought to be played.Along with Tierney, on that flank, they are a handful for any team.
Sometimes he reminds me of a Scholes……that being said he has to muscle his game(as Aimé Jacquet once Saïd to Pires)
Perhaps something we can ALL agree on – ESR is an absolute diamond.