The 20-year-old underlined why he is ahead of the well-paid Brazilian in the pecking order by coming off the bench to inspire a 2-0 win over Newcastle
Less than a month ago, Emile Smith Rowe hadn’t started a league game in over a year.
Now, Arsenal’s brilliant young playmaker will be one of the first names on the team-sheet when Mikel Arteta names his side to face Crystal Palace on Thursday night.
Smith Rowe didn’t even start Saturday night’s FA Cupthird-round tie against Newcastle, such is his importance to Arteta now, but he still came off the bench to inspire a 2-0 victory and earn himself the man of the match award.
After a goalless 90 minutes, the 20-year-old finally broke the deadlock in the second period of extra time with a fabulous finish before skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang killed the game off with a late tap-in.
This wasn’t a pretty win for Arsenal, but it was another performance which underlined how important the club’s youngsters are to Arteta going forward, and how tricky a problem some of the senior stars are becoming.
Having been left out of the starting XI, Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka might have been a bit fearful that Willian or Nicolas Pepe would produce the type of performance which would have made them undroppable.
However, as has been the case time and time again this season, both flattered to deceive.
There were some bright spots from Pepe, especially in the first half when he threatened at times to prize open the Newcastle backline, but, on the whole, it was another underwhelming display from Arsenal’s record signing.
Willian, meanwhile, was just plain awful.
The Brazilian started in the No.10 role that Smith Rowe has made his own since Boxing Day and served up another horrendous display for the 66 minutes he was on the pitch. Read More
World of sports 
Leave a comment