Mikel Arteta is full of praises as Ethan Nwaneri announced himself on the Arsenal stage with his double putting the Gunners into the Carabao Cup fourth round via a routine 5-1 win over Bolton, which also saw Raheem Sterling score on his full debut.
On a night where Mikel Arteta gave four young academy products their first starts, Nwaneri was the standout player in a youthful home side, with the 17-year-old starlet scoring either side of half-time to put daylight between his team, who will face Preston North End in the fourth round, and their League One opponents.
After Declan Rice had given the Gunners the lead from Scott Arfield’s mistake on the edge of the box, Nwaneri turned home a cross from Sterling just before half-time.
After the break, Rice pinched Chris Forino’s pocket deep in the Bolton half and Nwaneri picked up the ball to finish coolly past goalkeeper Luke Southwood.
Bolton, who saw Arfield miss a good early chance to put one up, did not test 16-year-old Arsenal goalkeeper Jack Porter – standing in for injured duo David Raya and Tommy Setford plus the cup-tied Neto – for 53 minutes. By that point, they were 3-0 down.
That effort did see them pull one back as striker Aaron Collins burst clear of the Gunners defence on the counter, rounded the teenage shot-stopper and tap into an empty net.
Porter nearly gifted Collins another as his pass out the back fell straight to the Bolton forward, but went unpunished by a wayward finish. And Bolton were made to pay for that error as Bukayo Saka’s shot was turned home by Sterling a yard out to restore the three-goal cushion.
Kai Havertz came off the bench to round off he scoring with a fifth Gunners goal to put the finishing touches on a fine home victory.
