We made it two wins out of two in Singapore with victory over Newcastle United on Sunday – but Mikel Arteta believes we were made to work every inch of the way for the victory.

After falling behind early on, we hit back with two goals in as many minutes – both orchestrated by Kai Havertz. Then after being pegged back again, the substitutes turned the game in our favour with Max Dowman winning the late penalty that was converted by Martin Odegaard. 

“It was a great test,” Arteta said afterwards. “The conditions are different, the pitch is different. We were in a position that demands a lot of you, because we were one-nil down after the first action they had. 

“But I’m really pleased with what I’ve seen in terms of the intensity, the way we competed, the way we played, the way they understand the game. And even with a lot of changes at the end, we remained very competitive.”

Fifteen-year-old Dowman won the penalty for the winning goal, while fellow 15-year-old Marli Salmon also showed his composure at the back again, Josh Nichols – who turned 19 yesterday – impressed at right-back and Andre Harriman-Annous came on for his first ever run out for the first team. 

“It’s great to watch,” the boss said. “It’s very strange to witness such young players performing at that level with that confidence, that determination and actually making it happen. So, I’m very pleased with that.”

The only potential blot on the landscape was the injury to Riccardo Calafiori, who went off early in the second-half. Arteta said it was too early assess the extent of the injury yet though. 

“We don’t know, we have to wait. He didn’t look too worried, but he had to come off, so that tells you it isn’t great.”