The 18-year-old academy graduate coolly finished beneath Qarabag goalkeeper Vagner in the 53rd minute to score Arsenal’s second goal. Teenager Emile Smith Rowe scored his first Arsenal goal to help the Gunners maintain their 100% record in this season’s Europa League with a victory against Qarabag in Azerbaijan.
Soktratis Papastathopoulos and Matteo Guendouzi scored either side of Smith Rowe’s strike to also register their first goals for the club. Soktratis, who joined from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, put the Gunners ahead in the fourth minute when he diverted Nacho Monreal’s header in at a corner.
Teenager Guendouzi, another summer signing, added the third in the 79th minute, finishing a slick move with a low shot into the bottom left corner. Arsenal did not have all of the play in Baku and goalkeeper Bernd Leno had to make good saves in either half.
The win is Arsenal’s eighth in a row in all competitions and keeps them top of Group E with six points from two games.
Special night for Smith Rowe
Londoner Smith Rowe was making full European debut in the game, having come on as a substitute in Arsenal’s opening Europa League game for his first competitive senior appearance.
The highly-rated England Under-19 international made his first start of the club in the Carabao Cup win against Brentford last week. In Baku, the forward started on the right of a front three with Danny Welbeck through the middle and Alex Iwobi on the left.
Smith Rowe’s goal included all three with Welbeck winning a flick-on before Iwobi raced downfield and played a well-timed pass for the youngster to finish. Smith Rowe was lively throughout his 65 minutes on the field before he was replaced by Mesut Ozil.
He almost scored early on when sliding in at the back post to meet Sead Kolasinac’s cross from the left but failed to divert his effort back on target. The Englishman often drifted in off the right flank and was twice picked out in good positions near the penalty spot but did not finish.
Source: BBC News
