Arsene Wenger praised young goalkeeper Matt Macey for making the most of his opportunity in the Arsenal first team over the past two weeks.
The 23-year-old made his Arsenal debut in last Tuesday’s 2-1 EFL Cup win over Norwich, making a string of crucial saves to keep the Gunners in tie before Eddie Nketiah’s brace secured victory.
Macey’s heroics continued in the Europa League as he kept Red Star Belgrade at bay to help Arsenal to a 0-0 draw that guaranteed their qualification to the round of 32.
The 6 foot 5 inch goalkeeper’s only previous first-team football had come on loan at Luton and Accrington and Wenger was impressed by how quickly Macey had adapted to the demands of a Premier League side.
“He took his chance very well,” Wenger said. “He’s huge. He’s quick. You don’t often find combinations of that size and speed. He’s very agile for a guy that’s like that.
“He came late to us. Normally the goalkeepers come at the age of 16, he came at 20 basically. He’s intelligent, very focused.
“I was pleased to give him a chance tonight. He took it already against Norwich and again tonight he played very well.”
It may be some time before Arsenal fans see Macey in action again with Petr Cech due to return to the first team for Sunday’s trip to Manchester City and David Ospina set to overcome the groin injury that has sidelined him over recent weeks.
