A former Arsenal star, Martin Keown as singled out the club’s youngster, Gabriel Martinelli for praise following his impressive performance in the Gunners’ 2-2 with Chelsea on Tuesday.
Keown also hailed manager Mikel Arteta for finding the “future of Arsenal ” after witnessing the game.
Arsenal lost David Luiz to a red card and went a goal behind within half hour.
But despite the situation the Gunners rallied, and drew level through a superb solo effort from Martinelli.
Chelsea again took the lead close to the end of the game, but Hector Bellerin’s strike earned Arsenal a draw.
“You’re watching that team tonight, and you’re seeing the future out there,” Keown told BT Sport.
“Martinelli – his goal. The passion, the spirit. We’ve been waiting for this for a long time.
“Martinelli that is some performance tonight, [Buyako] Saka, and even [Granit] Xhaka when he goes to central defence, that’s as good as I’ve seen him play.
“They showed real character. For most of that game they were down to 10 men.”