‘Outstanding’: Oxford manager Karl Robinson singles out 22-year-old Arsenal player for praise after last night

Add as preferred source on Google

Oxford United manager Karl Robinson singled out Arsenal youngster Fabio Vieira for praise after last night’s FA Cup clash.

Arsenal turned on the style in the second-half last night after being held by a resilient Oxford side for just over an hour.

Mohamed Elneny’s header opened the scoring, while Eddie Nketiah’s brace rounded off a 3-0 win at the Kassam Stadium.

While Nketiah has grabbed the headlines for continuing his brilliant scoring form in Gabriel Jesus’ absence, Vieira put in an impressive display.

The 22-year-old provided two assists on the night as he set-up Elneny with a brilliant free-kick before threading a perfectly-weighted through ball to Nketiah for his first of the evening.

The Oxford boss singled out the Portuguese midfielder after the game and praised his delivery for Arsenal’s first goal.

Robinson singles out Vieira

While Robinson was uncertain Arsenal should have been awarded a free-kick, he was left impressed by Vieira’s delivery.

“I’m not too sure it was a free kick, the noise he made was the sound of a free kick but I didn’t have a clear view of it – the ball in was outstanding,” he told Oxford Mail.

“I thought the referee in large parts of it, refereed it really well. I didn’t have a tremendous view of the free kick that led to the goal.”

Vieira has certainly shown in spells that he could become a brilliant creative outlet for Arsenal, but he will need time to adapt to English football.

The Portuguese midfielder has only started two games in the Premier League so far, but he has been given the nod in cup competitions this season.

He will certainly have to take his opportunities if he is to try and force his way into Arteta’s side, especially with Martin Odegaard’s recent form.

But the youngster looks to have a bright future ahead of him in north London. He will undoubtedly play an important role as Arteta will look to rotate his side towards the business end of the season.