Former Arsenal academy midfielder Josh Benson made his Premier League debut against Manchester City for Burnley this weekend.
Burnley travelled away to Manchester City on Saturday with just one senior central midfielder available, so Sean Dyche called up former Gunner Josh Benson to make his league debut at the Etihad.
Though they lost the match 5-0, Benson was probably one of only a few players on the Burnley team to come out of the thrashing with any credit.
The 20-year-old won five of six ground duels and completed two of two dribbles, showing he was up to the task physically. He also completed 90% of his passes and saw a free-kick deflected just narrowly wide – it looked to be going in.
Burnley boss Dyche was certainly complimentary of the former Arsenal youngster.
“I thought Josh Benson was terrific,” Dyche said. “It was a very difficult game to come into anyway, it’s very difficult when he’s looking around him and finding his feet.
“I’m really pleased and I made him aware of that after the game, as did the players. He’s learning, he’s been a slow learner, we got him out of Arsenal, it’s taken him time to keep working at his game, which he has done.
“I thought he was ably assisted in there by Westy, they gave it a real go today, but there are others who can do much better in my opinion. Those two really stuck at it against a really top side.”
It’s always good to see Arsenal academy players breaking through in one of Europe’s top divisions, even if it’s with Burnley rather than at the Emirates Stadium. Congratulations to Josh on his first senior league appearance!