An Arsenal team of second-string players and youth stars had no trouble at all breezing past FC Vorskla on Thursday, winning the match 3-0 in Kiev.

With the North London derby on Sunday, Unai Emery had a call to make in midweek. Starting his star players would wear them out, and even taking them on the trip to sit in freezing conditions after a long journey to Ukraine could hardly do them any good.

As a result, he decided to trust in the Arsenal academy to fill the gaps in the squad, and it worked a treat. Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings for the match:

Goalkeeper and Defence

Petr Cech 7

Cech really didn’t have much to do for most of this game, but one great chance did fall Vorskla’s way and the goalkeeper was out well to smother it. He did drop a save early on, but he managed to hold it on the second attempt.

Stephan Lichtsteiner 7

Back from his hamstring injury, Lichtsteiner did well, particularly in the air where he won all of his aerial duels. He got forward effectively enough and created one chance in the first half. In all honesty, he had an easy night and perhaps should’ve created one or two more with the positions he found himself in.

Carl Jenkinson 8

Jenkinson had to play out of position on this occasion, and he did so very effectively. No Arsenal player made more tackles or more clearances than him, and no defender made more accurate passes either. He also threw himself in front of a shot well at one point.

Rob Holding 7

Holding had a good game too, with the usual caveat that he wasn’t really tested. The negative for the night was that he picked up a yellow card which rules him out of the final Europa League game, although that shouldn’t be a big problem. The defender ended up coming off early, perhaps with the North London derby in mind.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles 7.5

Maitland-Niles had one of his usual all-action performances, getting up and down the pitch all game.

The midfielder turned left-back had a bit more to do than the other defenders, with Vorskla mostly attacking down the right-hand side, and Arsenal mostly attacking down the left. His link-up with Smith Rowe was pretty important as a result, and he didn’t let himself down.

Midfield

Mohamed Elneny 7.5

For the most part, Elneny played things pretty safe, leaving it to his teammates to take all the risks going forward. However, the Egyptian midfielder created one great chance in each half, one of which resulted in a goal for Joe Willock, the other perhaps should’ve done as well.

Matteo Guendouzi 7.5

No one completed a greater percentage of their passes than Guendouzi, but the Frenchman did take a few too many risks letting the ball run across his body and losing it a couple of times. Nonetheless, he grew into the game and created a couple of good chances.

Aaron Ramsey 8

As the only senior player in the attacking quartet, Ramsey had to make his experience count, and he did so well. For the first goal he linked up with Nketiah well, and for the second he won the penalty and then scored it.

With the game wrapped up early on thanks to his contribution, the Welshman had a fairly uneventful match after that, until his substitution midway through the second half.

Forwards

Joe Willock 9

Before the game, Arsenal fans who haven’t watched Willock playing a single minute of football since last season were writing him off. If you’d watched him in u23 matches recently, you wouldn’t be surprised at how well he went on to perform after that.

Just like in the youth games, Willock was a big threat going forward. His Thierry Henry-style finish got him his first goal, and both of his other two shots were on target too, forcing a couple of saves. The midfielder also got back well, making the joint-most tackles in the team.

Emile Smith Rowe 9

Smith Rowe was just as impressive as Willock, particularly in the first half. He took his goal nicely, linked up with Ramsey well to win the penalty, and created more chances throughout the match than any other member of the front four.

Arsenal took their foot off the gas a bit in the second 45 minutes, but Smith Rowe did test the goalkeeper well on one occasion, and had the ball in the net on another, only for it to be pulled back for a Nketiah offside.

Eddie Nketiah 8.5

Nketiah probably came off the pitch disappointed not to have scored, after failing to score a decent chance or two. However, he should be proud of his performance overall.

No one completed more dribbles than the 19-year-old as he tested the Vorskla defence time and again, creating good chances for himself and his teammates. On another day one of his shots goes in and he wins the man-of-the-match award.

Substitutes

Zech Medley 8

Medley was the first of three debutants on Thursday night, and he certainly impressed the Arsenal fans. Unlike many players coming through the academy, Medley is already built for senior football, standing at 6’4″.

The question was whether he’d be comfortable technically, and he answered that by showing a lovely passing range and winning the only aerial duels and tackles he contested.

Bukayo Saka 8

After Medley, Saka came on for his senior debut. The winger who recently turned 17 only stepped up to the u23s this year, but he took no time at all settling in there, and there’s no doubt he’ll be just as quick to adapt to senior football.

In his brief appearance on the pitch, Saka beat a defender with a stepover and fired a powerful shot away, before creating a great chance for Willock.

Charlie Gilmour 7.5

Finally, Gilmour came on for the closing minutes. He had a couple of nice touches and passes, but mostly he’ll just be proud to have made his debut. After playing 90 minutes for the u23s on Monday, he was never likely to play an extended part in this game, it was just about reaching that milestone.