Unai Emery Praises Bukayo Saka After Arsenal Beat Qarabag in Europa League

Bukayo Saka played "with a very big personality" in his first Arsenal start against Qarabag on Thursday, according to head coach Unai Emery. 

The 17-year-old winger played 90 minutes at the Emirates Stadium alongside fellow youngsters Eddie Nketiah and Joe Willock, and they received praise from Emery after the 1-0 victory, per Mattias Karen of ESPN FC:

"They show us in every match positive things. And today Saka also, he played with a good performance with a very big personality. We were speaking at half-time, they were trying one-on-ones against the opposition. Not every action was good for us, but his personality is very important to continue in the second half trying to do one-on-ones and break lines with his quality. He played with a very big personality for the 90 minutes, and with sometimes a good performance. And for him it's very important for his confidence."

Arsenal beat the Azerbaijan side thanks to a 16th-minute goal from Alexandre Lacazette and finished top of Group E with an unbeaten record.

Saka had a golden chance to add a second for the Gunners late on but could not convert from seven yards out.

Even so, it was an exciting performance from the youngster who caused problems for Qarabag on the left flank:

Saka praised the team performance after the match:

There were thousands of empty seats at the Emirates on Thursday for what was a largely meaningless game as Arsenal had already topped the group and Qarabag had no chance of qualifying for the knockout rounds.

Those who were in attendance saw a youthful side put together some fine passages of play, though, and Laurent Koscielny also returned to action after seven months out through injury.

The Gunners are back in action on Sunday when they visit struggling Southampton in the Premier League.