Jakub Kiwior got his first minutes in an Arsenal shirt on Thursday evening (Picture: Getty Images)
Mikel Arteta and William Saliba were pleased with what they saw from Jakub Kiwior in a solid enough Arsenal debut for the defender on Thursday night.
The January signing from Spezia made his first appearance for the Gunners in the Europa League at Sporting, starting the match in Lisbon which finished 2-2.
The Poland international did seem at some fault for Sporting’s first goal, seemingly ducking away from a cross which was headed in by Goncalo Inacio, although goalkeeper Matt Turner probably got more of the blame.
Otherwise he didn’t do much wrong and Arteta thought it was a fine performance for a debut in a tricky game which saw six changes from the Premier League game last weekend.
‘I think he was good, it’s the first time he’s played so it was a different partnership,’ said Arteta.
‘When you make six changes to the team, that cohesion isn’t really there, and you can sense it especially in the first minutes of the half. After that, I think the team got better and better. Overall, I think he played a good game.’
On the poor defending for Sporting’s first goal, Arteta added: ‘I don’t know what it was. It happens in a split second. For sure in that second somebody can’t have a free header.’
Kiwior was partnering Saliba in the middle of defence, with the young Frenchman enjoying his new teammate’s display.
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‘His first game, he played well and for me I play the first time with him and we did well,’ said Saliba.
‘Unfortunately we conceded two goals, but it’s ok, we played well and that’s good.
‘We trained a lot together, in training we change the pair always, that’s why we played good together and it wasn’t bad to play with him for the first time.’
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The January signing started in Lisbon.
