AFC Bournemouth loanee Neto became Arsenal’s oldest debutant in 110 years when he played in last night’s Champions League clash with Girona.
Making his debut at 35 years and 194 days, he’s the oldest debutant for the Gunners since Nid Liddell in 1915.
The shot-stopper was chosen to start between the sticks after a slight injury to first-choice goalkeeper David Raya, but endured a nightmare start.
In the 28th minute, with former Tottenham player Arnaut Danjuma latching on to a through-ball, the Brazilian goalkeeper was caught in no-man’s land outside his area.
Surprisingly Neto made a dive to save the shot but did not make contact with the ball, if he had then it would almost certainly have been a straight red card.
Neto’s blushes were spared as Arsenal came back to win 2-1 thanks to a Jorginho penalty and Nwaneri’s curling effort.
Arsenal finished third in the Champions League table, gaining automatic qualifications for the Last-16 of this seasons competition.
Neto could be in line to make his Premier League debut against Manchester City on Sunday, should Raya not recover in time. The Brazilian has faced Manchester City twice whilst playing for AFC Bournemouth, conceding five goals in those games.
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