Arsenal legend Martin Keown was blown away by teenage summer signing Marquinhos’ performance in the Gunners’ 2-1 victory over FC Zurich on Thursday night.
The Brazilian youngster was handed his first start for the north London club in their opening Europa League group match and took just 16 minutes to get on the scoresheet.
A fine team move saw Marquinhos fire Eddie Nketiah’s low cross into the top corner with an emphatic finish, and the 19-year-old burst into tears after netting.
FC Zurich hit back with a penalty on the stroke of half-time, but Nketiah netted just after the hour-mark to secure all three points for Arsenal.
Keown was impressed with all of Mikel Arteta’s attackers, but Marquinhos stood out to such an extent that he even compared him to former Gunner – and current Bayern Munich star – Serge Gnabry.
Speaking about the former Sao Paulo winger on BT Sport, Keown said: ‘It’s the confidence, we talked about having that class in possession. I saw lots of that tonight from Marquinhos.
‘Look at that pass from Fabio Vieira, great ball into the channel, we talked about Nketiah and his movement, and then a great pass off his weaker foot.
‘And then the finish! The ball just lifts before it comes into him and it’s a wonderful finish from him.’
He continued: ‘The first of many, hopefully. He’s got a huge future ahead of him.
‘That’s a real opportunity now ahead of him. Bukayo Saka is only a couple of years older himself, but such is the quality he’s going to get chances.
‘He looked a bit like a Gnabry type player. He’s short, stocky, explosive pace. He looked very classy.
‘He picked and chose his moments cleverly, whipped a couple of crosses in. Really good quality. He kept on producing.
‘I think it’s great news. We’ve seen Saka, we’ve seen Smith Rowe in this very competition start their careers. I think we’re seeing another star here in the making.’
Fellow pundit Kevin Campbell agreed, adding: ‘For a 19-year-old, what a superb finish. Shows his emotion as well, his first goal for the Arsenal and what an absolutely great goal.’
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