FC Arsenal has advanced to the League Cup Round of 16 without any problems. In the match against third-division side Bolton Wanderers, held at their home ground Emirates Stadium, a 17-year-old emerged as the goal scorer.
17 years old – and already an Arsenal goal scorer: Ethan Nwaneri. IMAGO/Sportsphoto
5:1 – a commanding performance. FC Arsenal has jumped over the hurdle of Bolton in this third round of the English League Cup without any issues.
Gunners coach Mikel Arteta was able to note the 1:0 after just 16 minutes. Midfielder Rice, who started alongside established players like Gabriel Jesus, Chelsea loanee Sterling, Saka, Jorginho, and new signing Calafiori – who recently scored in the Premier League thriller against champions Manchester City (2:2) – took advantage of a mistake in the Wanderers’ defense to score the opening goal.
The emerging top talents Nichols (18) and Nwaneri (17) also contributed to the goal.
Havertz scores after silent game
But the evening was far from over for the 17-year-old. The homegrown talent, who joined FC Arsenal in 2016 at the age of nine, scored himself in the 37th minute following a pass from Sterling to make it 2:0 – his first goal in the Gunners’ jersey.
Shortly after the restart, the London-born forward, who is already dubbed a “wonderkid” by Sky Sports, even found the net twice. The English-Nigerian striker, who signed his first professional contract in March, pressed high with his teammates and scored from a Rice assist (49). After a subsequent goal by Bolton’s Collins (53), Sterling (64) and Havertz (77) followed up with goals to make it 4:1 and 5:1, respectively.
For the German national player, who was subbed on in the 62nd minute, this goal certainly brought some satisfaction after the recent weekend. Because in the 2:2 draw in Manchester, Havertz, as a starting player, failed to complete a single pass (!) from five attempts in the entire 90 minutes plus injury time. According to OptaJoe, this had not happened in the Premier League since the 2003/04 season when a player played at least 89 minutes.