Arsenal legend Martin Keown has lavished praise on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kieran Tierney and Bukayo Saka after the Gunners’ 3-2 win over Benfica in the Europa League on Thursday.
With the tie delicately poised at 1-1 from the first leg, Arsenal found themselves 2-1 down to the Portuguese giants and were staring down the barrel of elimination at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium before their ever-reliable trio produced the goods.
Tierney levelled the scores with a sweetly-struck left-footed effort before Saka crossed for Aubameyang to head home late on, and Keown has lauded the three players after their contributions ensured that Arsenal would be in the hat for the last-16 draw.
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Speaking to BT Sport, Keown said: “That’s the sort of player that you want to b
reed. You want characters going forwards. Who are the players you can look at and say, ‘OK, cometh the hour, cometh the man’. We had three of them tonight.
“Aubameyang with the finish, Saka with the providing cross and Tierney started it with that goal, getting us back in the game.
“We’re having to learn quickly on our feet, but we might actually come out of it much stronger for having gone through this tonight. In the end, they showed a great deal of character.”
Mikel Arteta’s side now have two days to recover before they do battle with Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Sunday lunchtime in the Premier League.
