THEO WALCOTT may not be welcome in the England squad, but at least his Arsenal team-mates are more appreciative of his talents. As against Aston Villa on Saturday, the 17-year-old came off the bench to spare his elders’ blushes, creating a last-minute winner in the second leg of the Champions League third qualifying round tie to give Arsenal their first victory in their new home.

Arsenal’s first winning goal in their new stadium was worth waiting for, particularly given its resonance for their future. Walcott, after just ten minutes on the pitch, provided further evidence of his immense promise, picking up Thierry Henry’s pass to cross for Mathieu Flamini to tap in from close range. Having created two goals in 27 minutes on the pitch, Walcott may not have to wait much longer for his first start.

“If he comes on every time and creates a goal I will not leave him out for long,” Arsène Wenger said. “When he comes on you can see that he makes a difference because of his penetration, power and speed. The crowd is a positive thing for him as it shows that people believe in him. He can handle the pressure. But sometimes you can also see that he’s a bit young and we have to give him time.”

Walcott’s wing wizardry enabled Arsenal to move through to today’s Champions League group stage draw in Monaco 5-1 on aggregate, though Wenger’s overriding emotion was relief. “If we had not won tonight people would have said we can’t win at our new stadium,” he said. “It’s a relief as we all know how important this game is for the whole season. Not just financially, but to have that special motivation to be playing against the best teams in Europe.”

Wenger had given warning that it would take as many as ten games for the Emirates Stadium to feel like home, and at times against Dynamo Zagreb they looked as if they were playing in strange surroundings. Just as against Villa on Saturday, Arsenal’s hard-working opponents did their best to gatecrash the party, with Eduardo’s twelfth-minute shot eluding Manuel Almunia on the greasy surface.

With Walcott trying to warm up in the driving rain, Arsenal’s best moments came from Robin van Persie. Perhaps peeved at being left out against Villa, the Dutchman rampaged all over the pitch from his position as a deep-lying striker. In the space of six minutes in the middle of the first half, Mario Cvitanovic cleared his shot off the line, Ivan Turina saved at the near post and Dino Drpic blocked another goal-bound effort in the penalty area after Turina had saved from Fredrik Ljungberg.

Van Persie’s case was helped when Arsenal’s next chance fell to his rival, the long-limbed Emmanuel Adebayor, who is increasingly coming to resemble Kanu at his most hapless. Justin Hoyte’s 54th-minute cross from the left was cleared straight to Adebayor, with the Togo striker somehow contriving to blast over the crossbar from six yards out. Wenger’s thunderous face said it all.

Such was his desperation that Wenger threw on Henry and Gilberto Silva soon after, though it was Ljungberg who spared his blushes. Van Persie’s 78th-minute free kick from the right was headed home by the Swede. Walcott came on moments later, and did not have to wait long to make an even more significant contribution.

ARSENAL (4-4-2): M Almunia — E Eboué, K Touré, J Djourou, J Hoyte — A Hleb (sub: Gilberto Silva, 70min), F Fàbregas, M Flamini, F Ljungberg — R van Persie (sub: T Walcott, 80), E Adebayor (sub: T Henry, 65). Substitutes not used: M Poom, A Song, P Cygan, J Aliadière. Booked: Flamini, Djourou, Walcott.

DYNAMO ZAGREB (5-3-2): I Turina — D Drpic, M Cvitanovic, V Corluka, Z Mamic, C De Jesus — J Agic (sub: M Buljat, 69), O Vukojevic (sub: G Ljubojevic, 89), L Modric — Etto (A Tomic, 90), Eduardo. Substitutes not used: A Costa, F Loncaric, S Pandev. Booked: Agic, Drpic, Buljat.

Referee: B Layec (France).