An Arsenal team featuring six players aged 20 or under beat Portsmouth 2-0 to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said the club's young players are"worth the risk" after his youthful team beat League One Portsmouth at a noisy Fratton Park to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Eddie Nketiah bundled home from close range from another Nelson cross to wrap up the victory six minutes after the restart."I'm really pleased with them [the youngsters]," Arteta told BBC Sport."I'm enjoying working with the players. They deserve a chance. It's always a risk but they're worth the risk.
Arteta - slightly surprisingly - made nine changes, with several fringe players starting, and defender Pablo Mari making his debut, despite the FA Cup being the only hope of silverware for the record 13-time winners. "There is a long way to go [in the FA Cup]," said Arteta."But we're on the right path. We'll see what happens in the draw. We'll keep going because we love this competition."This was something of a bonus match for Portsmouth, who are third in League One and pushing for promotion.
Arguably this was not even their biggest game of the week - they go to seventh-placed Peterborough on Saturday, with the clubs separated by only three points. "But after their second they dominated and it would have been a goal out of nothing from us. Then realistically we were playing damage limitation, my players didn't buckle, kept going and that was good."Arsenal have gone 11 games without defeat on the road since a 2-0 loss at Leicester in Unai Emery's last away game in charge.
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