Arsenal U21s fought hard against Crystal Palace on Monday night as Mehmet Ali's side came back from a goal behind to level 1-1. The draw means that the Gunners go to the top of the Premier League 2 table.
Interestingly, regular first-teamer Marquinhos featured in the match and started the game, but struggled to make an impact. He was subbed early in the second half for Charles Sagoe Jr, who was an immediate threat when being introduced.
It could have been considered a first-team audition for Marquinhos following the uncertainty around Bukayo Saka, after the Englishman came off early in Arsenal’s Premier League victory against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
READ MORE: Arsenal U21 player ratings vs Crystal Palace as Marquinhos struggles in hard-fought draw
With Marquinhos failing to impress in the audition, Reiss Nelson has been given a boost ahead of the Europa League on Thursday and potentially the match against Chelsea at the end of the week.
Saka had a phenomenal start to the match against Forest and was clearly Arsenal’s biggest threat in attack. This was epitomised by his impressive assist for Martinelli to give the Gunners an early lead.
Unfortunately, Saka’s impressive start to the game was halted when he went down with an injury in the first half which subsequently forced him to be substituted.
With the World Cup fast approaching and a crucial Arsenal game against Chelsea coming up, Saka’s injury comes at the worst time, as the Englishman has been the Gunners’ best player in recent weeks.
However, it gave Nelson the chance to shine and he grasped the opportunity with both hands. Nelson scored two goals as Arsenal ran rampant in a 5-0 win over Forest at the Emirates. Gabriel Martinelli, Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard also got their name on the scoresheet.
Marquinhos was also on the bench against Nottingham Forest but was unused. This is why it was important for the Brazilian to impress in Arsenal’s crucial Premier League 2 fixture against Crystal Palace, as a draw puts the Gunners at the summit of the table. However, after an unconvincing 55 minutes, Marquinhos was then substituted as he failed to provide an attacking threat to help take the lead.
Mikel Arteta’s side are set to play FC Zurich on Thursday knowing that a win will secure top spot ahead of the knockout stages. With Saka potentially unavailable, it means that the right-wing is up for grabs, and it seems that Nelson will be taking that spot after his recent heroics.
Marquinhos will have to improve on his performances at both first-team and youth-team levels in order to get back in the first-team reckoning as he was at the start of the campaign when he started in Arsenal’s first Europa League match of the season – a match where he scored his first Gunners’ goal.
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