Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta made plenty of changes for their final Champions League group stage match against PSV Eindhoven and handed Cedric Soares a rare opportunity to feature.
The Portuguese defender took to social media to celebrate his second senior appearance of the season.
Before last night, the only glimpse Arsenal fans had seen of Cedric Soares was the three minutes he spent on the pitch against Brentford in the EFL Cup.
Die-hard Gunners fans might have made the journey to Exeter City to see the 32-year-old play in the EFL Trophy alongside some of the club’s youngsters.
However, Mikel Arteta has plenty of cover across the back line right now and hasn’t needed to turn to Cedric this season.
The Gunners were keen to sell Cedric in the summer after he spent the second half of last season on loan at Fulham.
He couldn’t break into Marco Silva’s side at Craven Cottage and the club are happy to let the full-back leave in January if somebody makes the right offer.
Arsenal may have seen the PSV Eindhoven match as a way to put Cedric on the market ahead of the upcoming transfer window.
The Portuguese didn’t have a disastrous match but looked short of match sharpness which is hardly a surprise given his lack of minutes this season.
Cedric features for Arsenal against PSV
The £75,000-a-week defender took to Instagram to celebrate his return to action and said: “Really happy to play in the Champions League again and get a chance to help the team tonight. First place and on to the next stage!”
Aaron Ramsdale replied and was delighted for his teammate, saying: “Absolutely loved that tonight mate. Well done SEWYYYYY.”
Goalscorer Eddie Nketiah simply said: “Top,” while Martin Odegaard loved the full-back’s display.
The responses from Cedric’s Arsenal teammates after his 62-minute appearance against PSV Eindhoven show how popular he is in the squad.
There would have been a few fans who would have wanted to see youngster Reuell Walters handed his debut at right-back yesterday.
He travelled alongside Ethan Nwaneri and Lino Sousa, but the trio had to watch on from the bench as the Gunners failed to claim a win against the Dutch side.
During the hour or so the Portuguese was on the pitch, he managed two clearances but not a single tackle, before being dribbled past twice.
He failed to win any of his duels and completed just 18 of his 26 passes before being replaced by Ben White.
Arteta needs to start trusting his young players more
There’s a good chance that Cedric might have played his final game for Arsenal against PSV last night.
William Saliba was forced off yesterday and the Gunners already being without Jurrien Timber, while Takehiro Tomiyasu wasn’t in the squad yesterday.
Mikel Arteta might be slightly worried about his defensive options and used last night as an opportunity to see how Declan Rice looks at centre-back.
It’s far from an ideal situation though, as the England international is integral to Arteta’s system in midfield.
Instead, Arteta could have looked to Reuell Walters who has been training with the first team for a long time now and featured in plenty of matchday squads without making his debut.
With Arsenal playing Liverpool in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, it’s unlikely that Arteta will give too many youngsters an opportunity in that game.
The worry is that if the Gunners pick up a couple more injuries, Walters might be thrust into first-team action and Arteta might regret not giving him the chance to adapt to that step up in less high-pressure games.
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