Arsenal’s academy stars impressed against FC Nurnberg on Thursday, proving the bright sparks in a disjointed second half.

Arsenal started a very strong team against FC Nurnberg for Thursday’s friendly, and it was no surprise to see Mikel Arteta’s side dominating the first half and taking the lead through Bukayo Saka.

But this was only the first game of pre-season for many of the players, and Arteta made six changes at the half-time break to get others involved.

As a result, the team lost their momentum a bit, and the second half was a lot more scrappy.

Yet there were some encouraging moments, particularly from the youngest players on the pitch.

Ethan Nwaneri came on with half an hour to go, and he was followed by Myles Lewis-Skelly and Reuell Walters in the final 15 minutes of the match.

Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly recently put pen to paper on their new scholarship deals, having both turned 16 last season, and they’ve been rewarded with the chance to join the first team on the pre-season tour this summer.

At their ages, every minute on the pitch is precious, and they certainly made the most of it on Thursday.

Nwaneri had a few eye-catching moments, most notably spinning away from a couple of challenges in midfield.

Too cold, Ethan 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/LjkeeebBIc

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 14, 2023

Lewis-Skelly then created a great chance for Folarin Balogun late on, which really should have been scored.

At the other end, Walters made a vital block in the dying moments of the game to ensure Arsenal didn’t lose the match.

Mikel Arteta spoke about the youth trio in his press conference after the game.

“It’s great as that was the opportunity that we wanted to give to them, especially with the amount of changes,” Arteta said.

“Not playing in the right environment with other players as well is difficult but I think they did really well.”

Whether any of the three players will be involved in the next stage of pre-season remains to be seen, with Arteta’s squad heading out to the United States this weekend. But they’ve taken their cameo chances so far, and that’s always encouraging.