The immediate future looks very bright for Arsenal and so does the more distant. On the night that Max Dowman became the club’s youngest player to start a match, at the age of just 15 years and 302 days, it was two other graduates of the Hale End academy who scored the decisive goals to send Mikel Arteta’s side into the last eight.
Ethan Nwaneri, who has one record that Arsenal’s latest protege can never beat, as the youngest player in Premier League history, found the net again on a rare start to settle an inexperienced Arsenal side’s nerves before Bukayo Saka rounded off the victory over Brighton after coming on to replace Dowman.
Cardiff to host Chelsea
Cardiff have been handed a dream home Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Chelsea.
The League One club are the lowest-ranked team left in the competition, having won 2-1 at Welsh rivals Wrexham on Tuesday night.
Chelsea came through 4-3 against Wolves at Molinuex, holding off a second-half fightback from the home side to secure their place in the last eight.
Elsewhere in the draw, holders Newcastle will be at home to Fulham.
Crystal Palace will head to Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Manchester City, who came from behind to win 3-1 at Swansea, will be at home against Brentford. PA Media
Carabao Cup quarter-final draw in full
Arsenal v Crystal Palace
Cardiff City v Chelsea
Manchester City v Brentford
Newcastle United v Fulham
The games will take place in the week commencing Monday 15 December.
On the impressive evidence of the 70 minutes he was granted here by Arteta, the forward – who will turn 16 on New Year’s Eve – will have plenty more opportunities to impress on the right flank over the years to come.
“It was a very special evening,” said a delighted Arteta. “For him everything is natural, it’s the way he plays. I think that’s the secret, that he doesn’t make a big fuss of it, he just does what he does best, which is to play football.”
This was an eighth win in succession for Arsenal in all competitions and yet another clean sheet despite making 10 changes that also included handing a senior debut to 17-year-old striker Andre Harriman-Annous. Having already established a four-point lead at the top of the Premier League, Arteta will hope that the timely injection of youth can provide more impetus in a season when they look destined to finally end their long search for silverware.
“We’re struggling with some positions already and it’s October, so we’re going to need them,” added Arteta. “It was a great test for them and I take a lot of learning from it.”
For some time it has been a matter of when and not if Dowman would be handed his first start having first trained with Arsenal’s senior squad when he turned 14, with the possibility he could still become the youngest player in Champions League history should he make an appearance before the end of January. But the absence of Gabriel Martinelli meant Arteta was short of attacking options and keen to rotate his squad before three testing away trips next week, as only Eberechi Eze retained his place from the win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.
If there were any doubts about whether Dowman was ready for this stage then they were dispelled in the 10th minute when a brilliant piece of control got the home fans out of their seats. Another teenager, Charalampos Kostoulas, should have made Arsenal pay from the resulting corner when Brighton raced downfield but he could only shoot wide. Georginio Rutter had also forced Kepa Arrizabalaga into an early save by then as the visitors started confidently.
It was understandable with so many changes that Arsenal lacked rhythm in attack, although their biggest threat came whenever Dowman got the ball on the right flank. With a mop of hair that he is constantly brushing away from his eyes, he is deceptively quick off the mark and left Belgium international defender Maxim De Cuyper for dead on more than one occasion. Fabian Hürzeler was left cursing his luck when somehow Jan Paul van Hecke headed wide from a corner five minutes before half-time. “We weren’t on our highest level in either box and Arsenal made us pay,” said the Brighton manager.
Dowman thought he should have had a penalty at the start of the second half when a mesmerising run was ended by Olivier Boscagli. The referee, Sam Barrott, waved away the appeals from the home crowd. A wonderful move that was triggered by Mikel Merino’s clever backheel eventually created the breakthrough, with Nwaneri finding the corner brilliantly after being set up by yet another academy graduate, Myles Lewis-Skelly. Eze saw another effort deflect just over as Arsenal started to find spaces in Brighton’s defence, with Hürzeler responding by introducing three attacking substitutes that surprisingly didn’t include top scorer Danny Welbeck.
Merino’s effort from a corner was cleared off the line before Dowman was given a standing ovation when he made way for Saka. The England forward didn’t waste any time making his mark when he fired in the rebound after Harriman-Anous’s shot was saved to maintain Arsenal’s winning run and send an ominous warning to their rivals.
