‘Special character’: Mikel Arteta praises Arsenal star who won 9 duels vs Ipswich Town last night | OneFootball

Arsenal climbed to second place in the Premier League after a 1-0 win over Ipswich Town at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners dominated proceedings against the Tractor Boys on Friday, and restricted the visitors to zero shots on target.

The game was decided by a solitary goal scored by Kai Havertz. The German bagged his 12th goal of the campaign for Arsenal.

Aside from Havertz, Myles Lewis-Skelly was hugely impressive from the left-back position. Arteta was particularly pleased for him.

Speaking after the win, the Spaniard said that Lewis-Skelly is a ‘special character’, who can adapt to the club’s playing style.

He told Amazon Prime (via BBC Sport): “He is a special character. He is well ahead of his age and then he has qualities where he adapts to the way that we are playing. Credit to him.”

Lewis-Skelly made his full Premier League debut earlier this month after the club were without Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko with injuries.

The 18-year-old has stepped up with consistent performances, and he got the nod last night despite Calafiori’s return to first-team action last week.

The club graduate was exceptional with nine duels won and a passing accuracy of 98 percent.

Lewis-Skelly also completed 100 percent of his crosses with two take-ons and three tackles.

He lost possession on just four occasions and induced three fouls from the opposition.

The youngster has shown a lot of maturity for his age and the big question remains whether he will keep his place in the starting line-up in the near future.

Calafiori has been handled with extra caution after another injury setback. Arteta has a selection headache ahead of the Brentford trip on New Year’s Day.

Stats from Sofascore.com