Evening Standard
·16 de janeiro de 2025
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·16 de janeiro de 2025
Gunners teenager one of the star performers in north London derby victory
Myles Lewis-Skelly says he fears no one after breaking into the Arsenal team and believes he showed during Wednesday’s north London derby how he isn’t soft.
Lewis-Skelly was one of Arsenal’s star performers in their 2-1 win over Tottenham, despite being just 18 years old.
The left-back relished the intensity of the derby and was involved in a scuffle with Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall before being subbed late on.
Lewis-Skelly whipped up the crowd as he went off the pitch at Emirates Stadium and afterwards stressed the importance of imposing himself on the game.
“Never afraid of no one,” he told Optus Sport. “I want to go against the best. I want to be the best.
“My mum, my grandma, my friends [were at the game]. I had to put on a show for my grandma, make sure that I did not look soft in front of her! I had to make sure I was winning my tackles for her and hopefully she is proud of me.
“It (the derby) was amazing, it was everything that lived up to my dreams. I couldn’t believe it. I just had to take in every moment of every second of the game. Honestly, it was amazing.”
Star performer: Lewis-Skelly impressed as Arsenal beat Tottenham
REUTERS
The win was a vital one for Arsenal after they were dumped out of the FA Cup by Manchester United last week and lost the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final to Newcastle.
The Gunners are now four points off Premier League leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand on them, by beating Spurs.
Lewis-Skelly praised the togetherness of the squad after a tough week and vowed they would stick together.
“As a team, we feel pressure but this is what we live for,” he said. “Moments like this, we live for. It’s a derby and we needed to win - and that’s what we did today.
“After a loss, we are down but our coach and our team are amazing, we are all together. We all stick with each, we all have full belief in each other’s talents and our mindset. We wanted to bounce back and there was no better way to do that than today.”
Lewis-Skelly has enjoyed a rapid rise this season and, when Arsenal travelled to Spurs in September, he had not even made his senior debut.
The 18-year-old has become a regular at left-back since then in the absence of Riccardo Calafiori and says his body can cope with the busy schedule.
“I feel amazing,” he said. “I feel like a million dollars! I am not complaining!
“First obviously it is hard, getting used to it - but I feel like my body is adjusting now. I feel great, I want to carry on doing it.”