Kieran Tierney finally makes league debut and he looks like he’s been at the club for years with assured performance

QUIZ question – who was the last Scotsman to play for Arsenal?

Give up? Apparently it was Scott Marshall back in April, 1998 . Nope, me neither.

But more than 21 years after rookie defender Marshall was packed off on a free transfer to Southampton by Arsene Wenger, the Gunners have finally gone back north of the border.

And excited Emirates fans are convinced that Kieran Tierney is going to make far more of an impression than the instantly forgotten Marshall ever managed.

Two months after completing his £25million move from Celtic, the Scottish international full-back was handed his belated Premier League debut by Unai Emery.

And fears of a baptism of fire against Palace tricksters Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha were eased as soon as Arsenal went two up inside nine minutes.

The 22-year-old almost set up a third for his new team with a perfect low cross for Alexandre Lacazette to draw a sprawling save from Palace keeper Wayne Hennessey.

And when the shell-shocked visitors finally managed to get across the halfway line, Tierney was more than up to the defensive challenge.

He might not have bulging biceps like left-back rival Sead Kolasinac, but what he lacks in muscle he more than makes up for with a ferocious tenacity.

There was certainly no question of him easing himself into the action after the summer hernia operation which had delayed his Arsenal introduction.

In fact it seemed so easy for Tierney that it must have felt like playing for Celtic all over again.

But nothing is ever that straightforward with Arsenal and the moment Palace were handed a lifeline by Calum Chambers’ clumsy challenge on Zaha in the box, the mood in the Emirates totally changed.

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And as soon as the visitors had one goal, you just knew they were going to get another against the flakiest team in the Premier League.

Once again it was carved out down Arsenal’s right flank, with Granit Xhaka failing to halt James McArthur and Jordan Ayew getting ahead of David Luiz to head in.

Tierney might take some comfort from the knowledge that he was not at fault for either goal. But it won’t be much consolation for a player who was a serial winner North of the border.