Walcott proves he is not done yet

SECOND string but no need to get out of second gear as Arsenal closed out the group stage of the Europa League with ease.

Long-awaited goals in red and white for Mathieu Debuchy and Jack Wilshere were among the highlights in what was effectively a glorified training ground exercise against Belarus side BATE Borisov.

There was also a swaggering performance from Theo Walcott that suggested his Arsenal career may not be drawing to a close any time soon. ‘The boss told us to enjoy ourselves and we played with a lot of freedom,’ said Walcott. ‘There is plenty of competition when you play for Arsenal. We are doing our best to give the manager a headache to pick us for the team.’

The official attendance for this dead rubber was 54,648 but the reality was around 30,000. That would make it the lowest ever attendance at the Emirates, breaking the record low of 44,000 from last season’s Carabao Cup tie against Doncaster.

But those who turned up were richly entertained.

‘I believe it was done in a stylish way,’ said Arsene Wenger. ‘We can say the opponent was not the level of the Premier League but you can only do your job and that is what we did in a convincing way.’

Walcott was in destructive form. In the first half he teed up Debuchy to smash home his first Arsenal goal in over three years, scored himself and then set up Wilshere for his first Arsenal goal since May 2015.

After the break, Denis Polyakov whacked Walcott’s cross into his own net. Nemanja Milunovic then fouled Walcott in the box, allowing Olivier Giroud to stroke home the fifth from the spot. It was six of the best when Mohamed Elneny curled a shot into the top corner.