Mikel Arteta labelled his youngsters a “joy to watch” as Arsenal put Slavia Prague to the sword to reach the Europa League semi-finals for the third time in four years.

Academy graduates Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka both starred for the Gunners as they shocked the hosts with a fine first-half display, hitting three goals in six minutes en route to a 4-0 win on the night.

Smith Rowe had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside before Nicolas Pepe opened the scoring, Alexandre Lacazette then converting a penalty after Saka was fouled before the England international added the third himself.

“They asked me and the club that they wanted to take that initiative,” he added.

“They had the right reasons for it, so the club was very supportive. I was supportive and thankfully the referee, and UEFA, they’ve been supportive. So I think it was a good gesture.

“They came to me, they wanted to take that initiative. We spoke with the club to make sure that we could follow the rules of UEFA and we can do it in the right way.

“We decided to take that approach, which I really like from the players, and I must say that UEFA was very supportive as well.

“The captains came to me and asked me to do that, and I just supported them like the club did.”